What If
by leafs nation
Summary: What do you think would happen if the Finsters didn't meet until years later? Read and review to find out! :
1. Random Dinner Question Time!

Hey guys! Wow, I haven't written anything in almost a year now, so my apologies to those who wanted to see the end of my Paris story. I promise that I'll try to finish that as soon as possible. Anyway, enjoy! (I don't own All Grown Up, or anything related to that)

"OK people, one at a time here! There's plenty of double espressos to go around!"

Chuckie Finster was standing behind the cash register serving the last jug of double espresso that they had left. It was a Tuesday, so that meant that it was half price off of all espressos. The tall redhead was having a tough time trying to serve them all at once, seeing as how the only other person working there was Kimi.

Finally, after what seemed to be endless amounts of people coming into the Java Lava, it was time to close up early. "Ok, everyone. See you later!" Chuckie half-heartedly said. As soon as the last customer left, he was nearly about to fall over. "AHHHHHHHH! Why the heck did Dad have half-priced Tuesdays? I can't take it anymore!" he complained.

Kimi chuckled and said, "Well, that's what you get for not doing your chores for a week, and I was the one making the drinks anyway!"

Chuckie glared at her and said, "Well, next time YOU do the cash register! Let's see how you like it when the customers almost tear your arms off from the caffeine in their espressos!" He then sighed heavily, slumped down into a chair and closed his eyes for a while.

As Kimi was cleaning off the tables, she asked, "Where did Tommy, Phil, Lil and everyone go off to today?"

"I'm pretty sure they were going skating today... Geez! It's almost like we're in here every single day!"

Kimi nodded, but then said to her brother, "Yeah, but we've got work experience now. We're one step ahead of the others, remember?"

They then both started to close up the shop. As Chuckie locked the door behind him, a light snow began to fall down. "Let's get going. I don't really feel like catching a cold today." Chuckie remarked.

Kimi brushed the snow off of her jeans and went into the kitchen to make something to eat for the 2 of them. "Hey, how does Mac & Cheese sound, Chucko?"

"Yeah, that's good, thanks." Chuckie replied. He then proceeded to set the table and wait for Kimi to finish up.

With plates full of delicious macaroni, and nothing on TV to take their minds off, Kimi decided to ask Chuckie a very random (and somewhat strange) question.

"Chuckie, what do think would happen if our parents didn't meet each other until we were older? Would we even be a family, do you think?"

Chuckie scratched the back of his head and replied, "Well, that was kind of random, don't you think?"


	2. The Beginning of the Beginning

"What do you mean random? It's not like we've got anything else to do to pass the time away!" Kimi said. Chuckie knew that she had a point, but he also knew that his sister would still ask him this later if he didn't talk about it.

He straightened up a bit in his seat, and said, "Alright then. Well, this is what I think would happen…"

It was a beautiful, warm summer day- which meant that almost every single person in the little town of "insert town name here (lol I don't know what it's called)" was outside. Phil Deville was walking with his twin sister Lil and his long-time friend Tommy Pickles.

"No way! Seriously, Phil? You couldn't have picked a better spot to chuck your baseball?" Tommy laughed.

To say that Phil was ticked off today would be an understatement. Not only had he accidently thrown his prized baseball into the vice-principal's window, he now had to pay $200 to get it repaired! "I didn't even mean to do it! What a great way to start off my summer… This bites!"

Chuckie was helping his dad carry some boxes into the store when he saw the 3 of them walk bye and wave to him. He gave them a small smile and waved back to them. He couldn't really help but feel jealous that they got to have fun on one of the nicest days of the year while he was stuck inside, but he knew what had to be done.

"Ok, that's the last one for today. Ooomf!" Chas stated, exhausted from the weight. As they both sat down for a bit of a break, Chuckie thought about all that he had in his life. He had a father, a group of friends, an education, a job… What could've been missing in his life?

He knew that his mother passed away years ago- he wasn't even old enough to remember her that well. Still, he'd always wanted someone who would care about him (other than his dad, of course). It wasn't that Chas didn't want to get married again, it was that he never found the right person.

Chuckie decided that he would talk to his dad about it once his shift at the _Cyber Café_ was over (wouldn't be called the Java Lava).

"Ok… we've got to be very quiet, since we don't want to scare it off… Man she's a real beauty! Dang, come on Terri! Let's go after that croc!"

Chuckie and his dad were watching a crocodile documentary with Steve Irwin, and it was really picking up.

"Wow, who would've thought that the Animal channel would be this exciting! Fish stick?" Chas asked. Chuckie shook his head no, but he did ask, "Dad… have you ever thought of getting married again?"

Chas' eyes opened wide, and he slowly replied, "Well, gosh Chuckie… Yeah, I suppose I have, but I haven't really met the right person, you know?"

Chuckie nodded and continued to watch the television.

"I'm sorry, Chuckie." Chas lowered his head, and he continued, "I know that it's been hard for you- not having a mother for so long. It's just, after she died, I didn't want to replace her with someone new so quickly. I thought that I could take care of you by myself, but deep down I knew that you also needed another parent."

He then laughed and said, "Although, I doubt that anyone my age will just show up and expect me to marry them, right?"

Chuckie looked sympathetically towards his dad. "Hey, don't say that! I'm sure that somewhere out there there's a woman who's just waiting for a guy like you."

He didn't realize just how right he was.

"Great story so far, bro! Though, I highly doubt that you would've figured that someone would come looking for dad, but oh well! How about I take over for a while?" Kimi asked.

So what do you guys think so far? Leave your interesting or creative comments in the comments section _below!_ (Nah, but some reviews would be nice lol) I'll be sure to write more soon!


	3. Parisian Life

The sweet sound of music could be heard throughout the city of Paris, France. The birds were singing, the breeze was in the air, and-

"Woah, woah, woah! This is way too happy-go-lucky, Kimi. Let's make it a bit more realistic here!"

"Fine, I'll cut to the chase…"

Inside a large apartment building was a Japanese woman talking on the phone with her boss, Coco LaBouche. Her daughter, Kimi, was reading a book while sitting on the balcony.

"Kira! Why have you not finished the business report for Euro Reptar like I've asked you too? I'm getting fed up with your incompetence…" Coco yelled in the phone.

"Well, I suppose you won't have to put up with my "incompetence" anymore, because I QUIT!" Kira slammed the phone down before Coco could retaliate. She had wanted to leave that job for years, but she wasn't able to find opportunities.

Kira layed on the bed and closed her eyes for a little while. She needed to get a decent rest to figure out what to do next.

As Kimi finished the latest chapter of her book, she looked up at the sky and sighed. 'Dad, why did you leave? We had a great family going, so why didn't you want to be a part of it anymore? It just doesn't make sense…'

She gathered up her belongings and walked down to the lobby. She figured a nice, long walk through the city streets would clear her head.

Kimi walked with a group of people who were all going to the same place: le _Parc_ de Triomphe (yeah, that's right. I made it up again! What'cha gonna do about it?). This was the place where Kimi would always come to relax and think about anything on her mind.

'Maybe it's time that I ask Mom if… No, I can't just ask her to marry someone! It's her choice, not mine." After some heavy-duty thinking, she slowly dozed off on the bench that she was sitting on.

That is, until she felt someone's tongue on her face.

"Mmmf… Stop it, that tickles! Ha ha!" She opened her eyes and saw a large poodle with purple skin and white, fluffy fur standing over her.

"Hey there, girl! Are you lost? Do you have an owner?" Kimi checked her neck, but there wasn't a dog collar or anything to indicate that it was someone else's dog. She also knew that there hadn't been anyone looking for a dog like this since she had volunteered for numerous animal shelters. So, she decided to ask her Mom if she could keep the poodle.

Kimi was extremely excited to hear that she could keep the dog when she put her phone away. "I think I'll name you… Fluffy! Yeah, that's a good name."

They spent the entire afternoon together- walking in the park, playing fetch, and lots of other things. By the time they came back, Kimi was completely exhausted.

She was so exhausted, that she didn't even bother thinking her answer over when Kira asked, "Kimi-chan, how would you feel if I told you that we're moving to California tomorrow morning?"

Kimi groggily replied, "California… sounds great… Zzz" With that, she fell asleep, leaving Kira to prepare for their long plane trip. Tomorrow, they were off to America!

The next day…

"Flight 945 is now taking off. We hope you enjoy your ride on Air France!" the pilot said. Everyone could feel the plane moving faster and faster down the runway, and then lift up into the air.

"Come on, Kimi! Don't be upset. I asked you if you were okay with this last night!" Kira explained.

"Yeah, but I was exhausted! I could barely tell right from left yesterday."

Kimi then turned to her mother and asked, "Why are we going here, anyway?"

Kira enthusiastically replied, "I had heard of how nice this place is on the Internet, and I thought…" Kimi wasn't buying that one bit, so Kira said, "OK, there were a couple of good deals for housing that I saw on the Internet, and it said that it was in a really nice neighbourhood," Kira then continued, "I didn't want that life for you anymore… After Hiro left, I'd wanted to change our lifestyle. I just couldn't find an opportunity, that's all."

For the remainder of the flight, Kira talked about what she planned to do when they got there. Kimi didn't have a clue about what to expect, but she had a gut feeling that something good was going to happen.

Be sure to read and review as I'll be posting my next chapter soon!


	4. First Impressions

Sorry about the long wait! By the way, I'm not going to say if it's Kimi or Chuckie telling the story from now on, since I think it'll work better this way.

As Kimi and her mother got off of the airplane, Kimi wondered, 'What's this place going to be like? Am I going to have any friends here? Am I finally going to live a normal life?'

She decided to be optimistic about this new country from now on, since she realized how much her Mom had to give up for them to start this new life.

They decided to get a taxi to take them to their new suburban home in the little town of "I Don't Know" –ville. As the 2 drove away, the airport started to get smaller and smaller, until it was completely out of sight.

'No going back now.' Kimi thought.

Chuckie was sitting on a stool by the cash register, with absolutely nothing to do. Today had been largely uneventful, as the March Break had just come and most people went on vacation. So, he took out his Ipod and began to look through any songs that he thought would ease him out of his boredom. As he spun around on the stool, he didn't notice a Japanese woman and her daughter walk into the store.

Kira politely asked Chuckie for some information, but he unfortunately wasn't paying attention. Kimi then went over and tapped him on the shoulder, surprising him. Needless to say, Chuckie never liked surprises.

As he fell off of his stool and crashed to the floor, Kimi quickly ran behind the cash register and helped him up. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! Are you alright?"

Chuckie slowly stood up and replied, "Ha ha, yeah, don't worry. That happens to me all the time." He then stood behind the register and asked with a goofy smile on his face, "So, what can I get you?"

Kira and Kimi laughed at how he tried to hide his embarrassment, and then Kira asked, "Is your boss around? I kind of need to ask him about something."

"Oh, you mean my Dad? Sure, he's right in the back. I'll get him for you."

Kira whispered to her daughter, "Well, he seems friendly. Why don't you make friends with him?"

Kimi nodded and saw an older looking version of the teenager come and start talking to her Mom.

"Hi there! My name's Chas Finster, and you are?" He questioned politely.

"Hello, my name's Kira Watanabe, and I was wondering if I could ask you a couple of questions…"

Kimi took a seat in front of the red-haired boy. She thought that he looked like a goof, but he seemed like he was a good person to get to know. "So, where were we? Oh yeah, my name's Kimi! What's your name?"

"My name's Charles Crandall Finster Jr., but everyone just calls me Chuckie." He then went on and asked, "So, I've never seen you around the neighbourhood before. Are you new?"

Kimi nodded slightly and replied, "Yep, I'm from Paris. My Mom and I just flew in this morning, actually."

Chuckie's eyes and mouth went wide, and he said, "Paris… wow. That is a _very _long ways away from here. So, are you guys on vacation or…"

Kimi replied, "No, we moved here. Well, we've almost moved here. We still need to actually find out where our house is. That's why we came here actually. Do you know where Jefferson Court is, by any chance?"

Chuckie nodded and said, "Yeah, I live on Jefferson actually. My house number is 62, what's your's?"

"64" Kimi answered. Chuckie seemed pretty happy, and he enthusiastically said, "Cool, you're right next door to me. Hey, why don't my Dad and I come by and help you move your stuff in? That way you'll have more time to look around the neighbourhood."

Kimi smiled and replied, "Yeah, thanks! So, what do you usually do around here? Other than work here, of course."

"Well, normally I hang out with my friends on the weekend and after school, but as you can see, most of them aren't here this week. I do have one friend that you should definitely meet, though. I think you'll get along well with him. Anyway, how about we come help you guys in about 30 minutes? I'm pretty sure we can close up early today."

Kimi then replied, "Sounds good. See you later, Chuckie!"

"Later, Kimi."

As Kimi and Kira left the store, the Finsters started to clean up. Chas remarked to his son, "Well, it seems like you've made a friend."

Chuckie nodded, "Yeah, she's a nice person. Is Kira pretty cool?"

Chas thought for a moment before replying. This didn't go unnoticed by Chuckie, but then he said, "Yeah, I guess she is pretty cool."

Unknown to Chas, Chuckie was laughing at the large smile that Chas had plastered on his face.

So, how did you guys like it? Please R & R (read and review), and be sure to look for the next chapter coming soon!


	5. Settling In

Thanks for all the reviews! Your feedback is really appreciated.

"Ok, ok, now you lift the back end of the couch, and – OH GOD, I'M SLIPPING! CHUCKIE, LIFT IT UP!" Chas was really having a hard time with his side of the couch, even though everyone else seemed fine with their sides.

Kira glanced around at what appeared to an endless amount of boxes full of items to put into the house. She couldn't help but feel bad that they were having the Finsters help them out and wasting a portion of the afternoon, but they really didn't mind.

When the last box had finally been put into the house, everyone was exhausted. Still, Chuckie had promised Kimi that he'd show her around, so they went outside. "I think you're really gonna like it here." Chuckie told her.

As they went down the street, Kimi took in all of her surroundings. There wasn't a house in this neighbourhood that looked the same as another house. All of them were designed uniquely, as if each home told you something about the family that lived there.

Chuckie felt a buzz in his pants pocket, so he pulled out his cell phone and saw who the text was from. He read the text aloud: "Hey C, come to the mall and tell the new girl to come, too".

"Who was that from?" Kimi asked. Chuckie looked at her and replied, "Come on, and I'll introduce you to him."

Kimi had surprisingly never seen a mall before, so she was awe-struck the moment she walked through the doors. There were stores everywhere, from clothing stores to pet shops, and sports stores to the food court. However, Kimi was mostly interested in meeting this mystery person that Chuckie was going to show her.

Chuckie brought her over to a small video store where a tall, purple-haired teen was standing. He walked over to Chuckie and said, "Hey, what's up Chuck? I see that you've brought a friend along with you." He walked over to Kimi and held out his hand. "Hi! I'm Tommy Pickles, and you are?"

Kimi gladly took the handshake and replied, "I'm Kimi Watanabe. I just moved into the neighbourhood. So, how do you two know each other?"

Tommy and Chuckie laughed, which kind of confused her. Chuckie then said, "Oh man, Tommy and I go way back. I've known this kid since he was born."

Tommy continued, "Yeah, Chuckie here's my best friend. Anyway, what brings you to this neighbourhood?"

Kimi told Tommy the same story that she told Chuckie, and once she was finished Tommy said, "Cool. So, where do you guys want to go? I'm done looking at these movies, so where to now?"

After a fun afternoon of talking and hanging out, the trio went their separate ways. Kimi helped out her Mom with dinner, and afterwards they quietly ate their food.

"Mom," Kimi inquired, "have you ever thought of maybe… getting married again?"

Kira dropped her fork on her plate and sat back in her chair. "Well, I… um" Kira stammered.

She took a deep breath and responded, "I know that you didn't get to see Hiro very much, and that you need a father who'll actually be there for you, but…" She paused for a second before finishing. She wasn't really used to being put on the spot like this, especially when it dealt with family matters.

"You know what, Kimi? I think you're right- it's about time that I start putting myself out there again. I'm going to find a man that's right for me!"

Kimi sat at the table with a confused look on her face as her mother ran up the stairs while chanting out what she was going to do. 'What just happened?' she thought to herself.


	6. Getting the Truth Out

Alright, here's the next chapter!

"So, what's your school like? My Mom said that I'm going to the same one as you, but I'm not really…"

"Sure what to expect?" Chuckie finished for her, "Don't worry, it's just like any other school that you've been too, except that we all speak English at our school, _madame._"

Kimi shook her head and chuckled. Not even a week in this new country and already Chuckie had become her closest friend. She didn't care that he was a little dorky-looking or that other people would call him a nerd. No, she looked past all of these things and saw the friendly, happy and intelligent side of him. She could tell him almost everything about her life, which she really hadn't been able to do before.

"Wow, you make your school sound so boring it's not even funny." Kimi complained. She then asked, "Where's Tommy? I thought he was coming after dinner?"

Chuckie shook his head. "He couldn't make it. Apparently he's got some Jewish ceremony with his grandparents that he forgot about."

Kimi glanced over to the horizon and watched as the sun slowly went down. 'What was it that I wanted to ask him again? Hmm… Oh, yeah! Now I remember.' She thought to herself.

"Umm, Chuckie?"

"Yeah?"

She looked down at her feet before asking him; wondering if this would be a bad idea. She went with her gut feeling and asked, "Is Chas the only parent you have?"

Chuckie felt a little uneasy, as he made a pitiful little laugh and said, "Yeah, I guess he is. My- my mom, well… she died when I was about 1 years old. My Dad's been the one taking care of me my whole life. I actually talked about this with him the other day."

He now felt a little more comfortable with the situation since he let his feelings out, but that wasn't the same with Kimi. She was practically bursting into tears, but she wouldn't let Chuckie know. She felt so terrible about asking that, as she didn't feel that she earned the right to know.

Chuckie put a hand on her should and reassuringly said, "Hey, don't worry about it, Kimi. You've actually done me a favour. I needed someone to talk to about it, you know?"

Kimi nodded and wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve. After a few very silent minutes, Kimi was ready to talk again.

"My parents got divorced when I was really young. I never really got to see him, so it wasn't that big of a deal when we moved here."

She then explained, "My Mom actually said last night that she was going to start dating again. It was really surprising, actually. She hasn't been on a date in like 5 years, and she's just starting now."

Chuckie knew deep down that his Dad had some feelings for Kira, but he forced himself not to say anything. Imagine how awkward it would be if she didn't feel the same way! Not only would it be way too embarrassing to talk to eachother again, but Chas would probably ground him for a month.

"I've been there, and it's an emotional rollercoaster, let me tell you. You get feelings of confusion, hurt, anger and bitterness, but eventually you realize that it's your own parent's love life and that you need to be happy for the decision they make." Chuckie proudly exclaimed.

Kimi was astonished and asked, "Wow, that was really deep. Did you make that up?"

"No, I got it off a TV show."

The 2 of them laughed and continued to talk about whatever they could think of at the moment.

By the time Chuckie returned to his house, he was already yelling, "Dad! I've got some big news that you might be interested in!"

Thanks to everyone who keeps on reading and reviewing! Also, I've started up a YouTube account! My user name is allgrownupism (yeah I know, cheesy but it's what they gave me). Anyway, I'll put the URL below for some of my videos. Hope you like them! I'll be sure to put more of them in soon!

.com/watch?v=SLCgnKVPruY

.com/watch?v=mHHH0Z-21Kk&feature=channel_video_title

If for some reason the link doesn't work, PM me and I'll give you the link to my channel.


	7. Revenge of Ms LaBouche

Ok, so I thought that I'd make these next few chapters a bit… unfortunate for some of the characters. You'll see what I mean soon enough… Muahahaha! Sorry if my evil laugh scares you a bit ;) Anyway, enjoy chapter 7!

"Jean – Claude! Where have all of my workers gone? They couldn't have all just vanished into thin air!"

"I apologize, madame, but the rest of your workers quit after Kira did. It apparently _convinced _them that they didn't want to work for you anymore."

Coco LaBouche was beyond furious. Not only did she lose almost all of her workforce, but because of this she was demoted to trash pickup around Euro Reptarland. She felt that her treatment was terribly unfair, given the circumstances. She was now the lowest of the low, but she knew one thing for certain:

She was going to have her revenge on Kira Watanabe.

Coco and Jean – Claude had already come up with a plan to do this. She had already called up the amusement park ninjas that were still there and ordered them to go over to California. She would join them in the next week or so, and then she would put her plan into action.

'Oh, you may think that you've seen the last of me Kira,' she thought, 'but you'll see that it was a BIG mistake to walk out on this organization. I'm going to make your life a living nightmare…'

Back in America…

"So Kimi, you're Japanese, right? That's wicked awesome! I've always wanted to go to Japan!" Needless to say, Dil was already becoming a good friend of Kimi's. That was Dil's personality, though. He was an awesome, alien loving and jolly good person.

Tommy, Chuckie, Kimi and Dil stood in front of the massive high school, all not sure where to go. The only thing they knew was that Chuckie, Phil and Lil (who Kimi still hadn't met yet) had first and second period together, while Tommy and Kimi had both of their morning classes together.

They were about to walk inside when they noticed a pair of twins arguing about who knows what at the front door.

"I did not, Phillip!"

"Did too, Lillian!"

"Guys! Guys! Cut it out already!" Tommy yelled, stopping the two, "Geez, can you two ever stop fighting? Oh, Kimi, these two are Phil and Lil."

Lil was the first to speak, as she said, "Oh, you must be the new girl! Nice to meet you!"

Phil came next. "Yo, you're Kimi, right? Glad to meet you, my name's Phil."

Kimi smiled and replied, "Yeah, nice to meet you guys, too! Chuckie's told me so much about all of you guys, so it's great to finally see the group."

As the morning bell rang, the Rugrats walked into the school. Lil and Kimi were already chatting up a storm, while Phil walked over to his locker. Tommy stated to Chuckie, "Well, she's starting off well so far, isn't she?"

"Yeah, she sure is." Chuckie then looked down steadily.

Tommy asked, "Hey, what's the matter? I thought that you'd be happy for her."

"I am, I am. It's just that…" Chuckie paused for a moment. Should he tell him? He was his best friend, so he decided that he could explain it to him.

"Tommy, I think my Dad might be in love with Kimi's mom."

"What?"

"Tommy, you have to promise not to tell **anyone**! I shouldn't even be telling you this, but I'm worried about this."

Tommy laughed slightly. "Come on, Chuckie. You worry about everything!"

"This is serious Tommy! What if something bad happens to either of them? What if Kimi becomes to creeped out to speak to me again? What if-"

"Aren't you the one who said to let your parents decide what's best for their family?" Tommy asked.

Chuckie shrugged his shoulders, and Tommy continued, "Well, then maybe you should take your own advice. I know your dad- he's a sensible guy. He's taken care of you since you were born, so I'm sure that whatever happens, he won't forget about his family."

Chuckie nodded slowly and said, "Yeah, I guess you're right. Well, I'd better get to class. See you at lunch, man!"

"You know it, Chuck!"

Tommy walked down the hall to his first period class, English. 'Ugh. What a crappy class to start off with.' He thought to himself.

He was about to open the door, when he suddenly heard a loud bang against the lockers. Since nobody else was around to see what it was, Tommy walked down the hallway. As he approached the source of the noise, he saw a big, mean-looking guy walk by with a terrible smirk on his face. He also heard a muffled cry coming from the lockers down the hallway.

He also saw a 16 year old girl was purple hair in ponytails sitting against one of the lockers with her hands on her face.

"Oh my god, Kimi! Are you all right? Say something!" Tommy reassuringly said.

When Kimi looked up at him, he was completely shocked. She had two bruises on her right cheek, and a small cut on her lip. Her eyes were like Niagara Falls, and she could barely mutter out words to say to him.

"Tommy… he.. he…"

"I know, Kimi. Don't worry, as long as I'm here he won't come back. I'll look out for you, I promise."

With that, Tommy hugged her and helped her up on her feet. Kimi decided that it'd be good for her to get cleaned up before heading to class, so Tommy waited for her outside the washroom.

'Man, it's her first day and already she's being bullied. I feel so bad for her…'

He looked up to see Kimi looking a little better than before, though she couldn't exactly hide the cut or bruises very well.

As they walked to class, Kimi stopped Tommy and said to him, "Thanks, Tommy. I mean it, you really are a great guy."

Tommy grinned and replied, "Well, that's what I'm here for: to help friends in need and to exact revenge on bullies who hurt my friends in any way."

Kimi laughed and looked up to him. She then leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "Well, thanks old buddy!"

As Kimi walked into the room about 10 minutes after the bell rang, Tommy still had his hand on his cheek.

'Do I like her? I mean, I've barely even known this girl for that long, but it feels like she's one of my childhood friends!' He thought it over a little, and then he sighed happily.

'Yep, I definitely do.'

Soooooooo, how did you guys like it? Reviews are very much appreciated, and I'd like to give a shout out to all of you guys who've been constantly reviewing my work. You guys ROCK! Look out for my next chapter coming soon! Things are going to get pretty bad soon…


	8. Bullying Bites

Chuckie was already certain that he wasn't going to have a great semester in math, as his teacher already _despised_ him- and it was the first day of school! Well, that's what he thought anyway. All that happened was the teacher yelled at him for talking during the class.

"If you do it again, Finster, you're up at the front of the class!" Mr. Pangborn snarled. Yeah, he was given a teacher's position at the high school, since the board of education thought he was unfit to be a principal.

As Slambang Pangborn turned to face the chalkboard, Chuckie immediately started talking (quietly this time) to Kimi again.

"Great, this is gonna be soooo much fun," Chuckie whispered sarcastically, "Why does he have to pick on me as soon as I see him for the first time since middle school?"

"Maybe he thinks you're cute?" Kimi laughed as Chuckie glared at her. "Come on Chuckie, you know I'm only kidding."

They were silent for a bit so that they wouldn't get into trouble, but then Chuckie asked, "Hey, do you want to come over after school today? Everyone else is."

Kimi shook her head and replied, "I'd love to, but I can't. I already promised my Mom that we'd go out to some fancy restaurant tonight. Sorry."

Chuckie waved his hand and said, "Don't worry about it. They aren't going to be able to stay long anyway since my Dad and I are working tonight."

"FINSTER! IS THERE SOMETHING THAT YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE WITH THE CLASS?"

"No sir…"

"WELL THEN…" As soon as he was about to finish, the bell rang, signalling the end of the day. All of the Rugrats (minus Kimi) were ready to enjoy a fun-filled Friday night.

Once Kimi left the class, she went to grab her stuff from her locker. Not long after she was finished, the bully (named Darrell) came and shoved her onto the floor.

"What the hell do you want? I haven't done anything to you!" Kimi yelled, crying her eyes out.

Darrell smiled menacingly and said, "You're such an easy target. I've never met a weaker person in my entire life! Ha ha ha!"

He then picked her up, shoved her against the lockers and started beating her like no tomorrow. All Kimi could do was pray that this torture would end, until 3 familiar friends came to the rescue.

Phil, Chuckie and Tommy already tackled the bully down and got in a few kicks and punches before throwing him outside. As he was hurting badly, he really didn't want to go back in there, especially with the 3 amigos glaring at him with their arms folded. He ran off before they even had the chance to say it to him, so they quickly walked back to Kimi.

"Hey, hey, it's alright Kimi. He's gone, we took care of him, don't worry." Phil said reassuringly.

Tommy and Phil both put her arms around their shoulders, and she said sobbingly, "Thanks, guys. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you all about this before. I just didn't want to worry you guys."

"No problem, Kimi. And if he ever comes near you again, we'll kick his ass, guaranteed." Tommy said determinedly.

Phil motioned towards Mr. Finster's car. "Come on, Chuckie's dad is giving us a ride home."

Chas unlocked the doors of his car and greeted them as they climbed inside the van. "All right, everyone come on in. Oh, hi Kimi! I didn't know that you were coming- oh my goodness, what happened? Your face is all bloody!"

Kimi pretty much looked like she got hit by a bus. She had a bloody nose, as well as more cuts and bruises than last time.

"She's being bullied at school," Chuckie explained, "but we made sure that he never does it again."

"Well, it's good that you're sticking up for your friend, but you 3 know that violence is never the answer. Kimi, you can come over and we'll get you cleaned up. We don't really want your mom to freak out that you were terribly hurt at school. Are you sure that you're alright?"

Kimi replied, "Yes, I'm fine, and thank you, Mr. Finster."

She felt a little strange. Good, but strange. Chas was being incredibly caring and concerned of her welfare. It felt as if he was her parent or something. However, Kimi was extremely grateful for his generosity, and the fact that he always seemed to know what to say.

They drove back home and walked into the Finster household. Chas suggested that she should stay here for the time being while he took Kira over to the Java Lava and explained the situation to her. Kimi thought this was a really good idea. She was terrified of going anywhere by herself right now, and this would help to keep her mind off of the bullying.

The gang watched movies, had pizza, played games, made prank phone calls, and finally they decided to set up tents in the backyard to sleep in. Kimi was finally starting to become one of the gang.

Thanks for reading, and keep on reviewing! The next chapter will be coming soon!


	9. Backyard Camping

Sometimes I have these really big gaps in between my stories, as I either get tired of finishing it or I just can't think of what to write next. So, before I start, I want to apologize to everyone who's been following this. All right, here's chapter 9!

"Wow, you play the guitar, Phil?" Tommy asked.

Phil nodded in response and played a G cord. "Uh huh, I wanted to have another hobby besides playing soccer, so I tried playing a guitar at the music shop down the street. The person working there said that I was pretty good for just having started, so he agreed to give me some guitar lessons."

Dil looked over to him and asked, "Cool! So, what songs can you play?"

Phil sheepishly scratched the back of his head and stated, "Well, I only know a couple of songs, but... do you guys know "One Love" by Bob Marley?"

"_No,_ we have no idea who that is. Of course we do! Let's hear you play it, Phil."

The other Rugrats agreed, so Phil went, "All right, all right! But I need 2 people to sing it as I'm playing. Then I'll know if I'm actually doing it right."

Chuckie was looking at the sky as they were talking. He wondered how Kira was handling the news that his dad was telling her. 'How is she going to take it?' he thought, 'Are they gonna have to move? I really hope not... I feel bad for Kimi though.'

He looked over to her. She was sitting beside the tent with her knees up to her chest and her hands around her legs. Chuckie could tell she had been crying; her eyes were red and her cheeks were stained with tears. He sighed and thought to himself, 'Man, she's not taking the bullying well. I wish that I could do something...'

All of a sudden, he smirked as he had a great idea in mind.

"I'll do it Phil," Chuckie bravely stated, "but Kimi has to do it with me."

As soon as she heard this, her eyes went wide. She shook her head no, but the gang kept saying, "Come on, you can do it! It's just for fun!"

Kimi finally gave up and prepared herself as the song was about to play:

(C means Chuckie is singing, K means Kimi's singing, and KC obviously means they both are)

Phil started to play the song, which went like this:

C- _One love... one heart! Let's get together and feel alright._

K- _Hear the children cryin'!_

C- _One love!_

K- _Hear the children cryin'!_

C- _One heart..._

KC- _Sayin' "Give thanks and praise to the lord, and I will feel alright!"_

KC- _Sayin' "Let's get together and feel alright!"_

_Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa_

K- _Let them all pass their... dirty remarks..._

K- _There is one question I'd reeeeaallly love to ask..._

C- _One heart! Is there a place for the hopeless sinner..._

C- _Who has hurt all mankind just to save his own? _

K- _Believe me..._

K- _One love_

C- _What about the one heart?_

K- _One heart_

C- _What about love?_

KC- _Let's get together and feel alright!_

K- _As it was in the beginning..._

C- _One love_

K- _So shall it be in the end..._

C- _One heart_

KC- _Give thanks and praise to the Lord, and I will feel alright!_

KC- _Let's get together and feel alright!_

C- _One more thing..._

C- _Let's get together to fight this holy Armageddon..._

K- _One love_

C- _So when the man comes, there will be no, no doom..._

K- _One song... Have pity on those who's chances grow thinner... _

K- _There ain't no hiding place from the Father of Creation_

KC- _Sayin', "One love"_

K- _What about the one heart?_

C- _One heart_

KC- _Let's get together and feel alright!_

K- _I'm pleading to mankind..._

C- _One love_

K- _What about the one heart?_

C- _One heart_

_Ohoohoohooh..._

KC- _Give thanks and praise to the lord, and I will feel alright!_

KC- _Let's get together and... feel... al... riiiiiiiiiggghhhhttt!_

"WOOHOO! Encore, encore! You guys were amazing!" Lil exclaimed.

"Yeah, and Chuckie wasn't that bad either." Dil grinned.

The gang laughed and continued to talk amongst themselves. Kimi's sadness was almost completely gone, as that song did the trick.

Everyone except for Tommy had fallen asleep, as they were truly exhausted over the day's events.

He stood up and walked over carefully, as to not disturb any of his friends, to the old tree house that their parents built for them when they were little. He climbed up the ladder and made his way inside.

The tree house had seemed a lot bigger back when he was a baby. There was a small wooden table with 2 chairs around it, a slide and a small box on the floor. Tommy picked it up and opened it.

Inside the box were old photos of when the Rugrats were, well, actually Rugrats. The whole gang (minus Kimi) was in these photos, showing all of their imaginary adventures in the backyard. He smiled as he went through these, as they had brought back many wonderful memories to him.

He then came to the last 2 pictures, where Chuckie and both of his parents were at a park. Tommy looked over to his best friend out on the grass. He sighed, as he realized that Chuckie had been without a mother for what was now 15 years.

Tommy then put all of the pictures back into the box and slept peacefully up in the tree house for the remainder of the night.

How'd you like it? Leave your reviews and expect the next chapter to come soon!


	10. Terrible Circumstance

"No, we don't sell hot dogs here, sorry... Huh?... No, like I said we don't sell hot dogs here. You should try the grocery store... LISTEN LADY! NO! YOU CAN'T GET AN ORDER OF 37 HOT DOGS IF WE DON'T MAKE ANY FREAKIN' HOT DOGS!"

Tommy, Phil and Lil were laughing on the other end of the phone as they looked inside of the Java Lava. All of the customers were staring at Chuckie as he tried to explain the hot dog thing to this person on the phone. They had now called him 3 times during the day, as they were extremely bored and had nothing else to do.

As Chuckie slammed the phone down, he looked up to see 5 customers with their eyes wide open. "Heh heh, sorry about that... Now, what can I get you sir?"

The 3 friends decided to leave the poor kid alone from now on, as they really didn't want any trouble. They hopped on their bikes and waved hello to Kimi as they rode by.

"Hey Kimi! Want to come with us? We're all going over to the arcade." Lil said.

Kimi shook her head. "Love to... but can't. My mom just texted me to come to the Java Lava right now, but have fun!"

"All right, see you later!" Lil replied.

Kimi then walked down the street to the restaurant. It didn't seem very busy today, so she came up to the counter and talked to Chas.

"Hi, Mr. Finster. Have you seen my mom around anywhere?"

Chas paused for a second and then replied, "Oh, she said she had to run to the grocery store to pick some things up. She'll probably be back in 20 minutes."

She nodded and sat on one of the bar stools in front of the counter. Chas then asked his son, "Chuckie, could you walk back to the house and bring back the napkins, cups and straws? I'll let you end your shift early today since you seem a little flustered."

"Yeah, sure thing." He replied, looking like he was about to explode. Chuckie speedily walked out of the store and down the street back to the Finster household.

Chas then proceeded to clean up the store. Betty had already left for home, so the only 2 people left in the store were him and Kimi.

"So, how do you like this town? I'm sure it's a lot less exciting here than it was in Paris." Chas inquired.

The Watanabe girl shook her head and said, "Actually, I like it a lot better here than in France. I didn't really have a lot of friends there, but the very first day that I got here, you and Chuckie already talked to us! So... thanks for being so friendly to us, Mr. Finster."

Chas laughed. "You're a great kid, Kimi. It was no problem at all, and I'm glad you're friends with Chuckie too. Usually he gets picked on by other kids when they don't even know him yet. I would know- it happened to me, too."

Kimi frowned and said, "That's not fair. You guys are awesome people!"

After a few minutes of silence, Kimi began to wonder if her mom and Mr. Finster had talked about the bad incident at school the other day. She asked, "Umm, Mr. Finster..."

"Please, Kimi, just call me Chas. You of all people don't need to be formal with me."

She then nodded and continued, "Ok, well... Chas, I was just wondering if..."

"You want to know what your mom and I talked about, right?"

She looked sad and quickly turned her head to the floor. She really shouldn't have asked Chas this. However, he really didn't mind her curiosity.

"Hey, it's alright. All that happened was that I explained what had been happening with that Darrell guy. I've already talked to Chuckie about it and told him to help you out if he ever goes near you again."

He then looked at her depressed expression on her face, and he couldn't help but feel terrible for her.

"Hey now, don't worry about it. It'll be fine, I promise." Kimi couldn't help but smile through the tears that were building in her eyes. He always knew the right things to say to her.

Chas then continued, "You know, Chuckie had the exact same problem as you do. It also happened to be the same bully who's been hurting you."

"Really?" Kimi asked, "It was the exact same person?"

He nodded, and then explained, "It happened last year. Darrell thought that he was an easy target to pick on, so he bullied him for most of his grade nine year. Chuckie hadn't said anything about it, so it continued for quite some time."

He then looked down and said, "Then one day, he came home with a black eye, bruises all over his body and a few cuts. He had finally stood up to him, so Darrell beat him up after school. After I phoned the principal afterwards, he got suspended for a week, and eventually the bullying just stopped."

He closed the cash register and sighed. "It was a hard time for Chuckie, but Tommy, Phil and Lil helped him through it, so he eventually got back to normal. The point of this story is that you're not alone in this. You can go to your mom, your friends, me or any adult if you're having a bullying problem. All that I can say is that you're not alone in this, Kimi."

Chas smiled and put a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks Mr. Fins... I mean, Chas. I mean it- you guys have done so much for us and-"

She was cut off as 8 men dressed in black tuxedos and robber hats (the ones that cover your whole face) burst in through the door. They all had pistols in their hands, and they aimed them right at Kimi and Chas.

"Go! You 2 grab the money, and we'll grab these 2." One of them said.

Kimi and Chas struggled to break free as they were being tied up and held by 4 of the robbers.

"Let her go! She hasn't done anything to you, you freaks!" Chas yelled.

One of the robbers pointed the gun at Chas's head and yelled, "Shut up! If you don't want to die, I suggest that you stop talking right now!"

The robbers kicked Chas in the back and he fell to the ground. Kimi then cried, "Oh my god! Don't shoot him! DON'T SHOOT HIM!"

2 of the criminals came back into the store with 4 containers of gasoline, and they proceeded to dump it all of the Java Lava. They took Chas and Kimi out through the front entrance, where a white van was parked right beside the sidewalk.

"You'll never get away with this!" Chas yelled as he was pushed against the side of the van.

The robber smiled under his mask as he snarled, "Ha ha ha, I think you should see something!"

As the masked man turned him around, Chas could only gasp in horror and despair.

The Java Lava was in flames.

The robbers opened up the door and were about to push them inside, when Kimi and Chas heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, Dad I got you the stuff..." He at once dropped everything that he had in his hands and ran towards the vehicle, screaming out the entire time.

"DAD! KIMI! LET THEM GO YOU F#*&% ASSHOLES, OR I'LL..."

"You won't do anything unless you want us to kill them both!" one of the robbers said, pointing his gun at the 2 helpless individuals.

Kimi shook in terror as they carried them into the van, but she managed to cry out, "Chuckie, I don't know what's going to happen, but look after my mom for me! AND GET HELP!"

The robbers gagged her with a cloth and threw her into the back of the van. Chas then calmly yelled, "I love you son! No matter what happens, I'll always, always love you!"

As the van drove away, Chuckie stood there completely stunned. He was going through so many emotions right now, he couldn't even decide what to do.

That is, until it finally struck him that he had now just lost one of his best friends and his father.

He screamed out to the sky and fell to his knees, as the Java Lava burned to the ground behind him.


	11. Condolences

Chuckie Finster thought that his whole world was caving in around him. He couldn't speak; there were no words to describe what was going on in his life at the moment. As the firemen sprayed their hoses on the burning building, he sat on the curb in utter despair.

Tears were rolling down his face as he sat staring at the pavement. He didn't care that the Java Lava was robbed and completely destroyed; he just wanted his friend and dad back. He knew that it could possibly take a very long time to find them, or they might not find them at all. Regardless, he knew that he had to search- he wasn't about to let the people that he cared about be taken away.

Just as he finished his thought, a blue Honda came rushing down the street. Kira Watanabe came to a screeching halt and burst out of the car. She frantically called out for her daughter, but no reply came. She freaked out as she saw the Java Lava, and then ran over to some police officers. They explained to her that Chas and Kimi had been taken by some shady characters, and that they were currently investigating what happened. The policemen then asked if she knew the tall, redheaded kid with glasses who was now shaking in fear.

Kira sat down beside him, and asked, "Chuckie... wh-what happ-happened?"

"They took them away..." he replied, "they took them away..."

Kira wrapped her arm around Chuckie as he cried. The 2 of them sat like that for some time, as the fire had been extinguished and the police was now putting the investigation tape around the crime scene.

"Come on, I'll drive you back to my place." Kira said. She had a very positive effect on Chuckie, as her words kind of soothed him in a way. He hadn't felt that way around anyone before, except for his father.

As the 2 of them drove down the street, Chuckie said to her, "Thanks for doing this, Kira. I'm in a bit of an emotional shock right now... but I guess that you would be too."

Kira smiled and replied, "Yeah, this is really difficult to grasp for me as well. Don't worry though, we'll find them soon. I promise." As she said this last part, however, she had a small frown on her face. Neither of them were very optimistic about the situation. "What we can do when we get back, though, is make some posters and put them up all over town. We're sure to get some help that way."

Chuckie nodded and stared out the window. He was sure that the rest of the gang would find out soon, and he and Kira would no doubt get countless calls of condolences from people. He knew that he needed to do more than just set up posters; he needed to help also with the investigation. The question was, how would he do it?

Later that afternoon...

Normally, there wouldn't be anything more awkward for Chuckie than sitting in your friend's house with that friend's parent. However, given the circumstances, he really didn't care about that right now.

As Kira fixed up some dinner for the two of them, Chuckie couldn't help but feel terrible. Here he was sitting on another person's couch feeling sorry for himself, while Kira (who had just lost her daughter) was making him feel as comfortable as possible. He decided that he would help her out as much as he could until this issue was resolved, but he suddenly felt the buzz of his cell phone in his pocket.

There was a text from Lil that read: "OMG Chuckie, r u there?"

He replied back to her message, saying: "I'm at Kimi's house"

To his surprise, his phone rang just seconds after he texted the message. 'Wow, that was fast.' he thought.

"Hello?"

"Oh my god... Chuckie, are you alright?" she worriedly asked.

"Yeah... well, for the most part. I went with Mrs. Watanabe back to her place after... you know..."

"Chuckie I am so sorry. If there's anything I- I mean we- can do to help, you know that we're always there for you."

Chuckie smiled and said, "Thanks Lil, I'll remember that."

"No problem. So... do they have any leads yet?"

"No, but I got a glimpse of the van that they were escaping in."

"Really? Because you know, this story is all over the local news now. You were on TV and everything!"

Chuckie grimaced and said, "I really don't want this to be on the news right now. This is just way too much of a personal situation. I don't want them calling for interviews or anything..."

"Right, well call us later okay? The whole gang's really worried about you."

"Sure thing, Lil. See you tomorrow." With that, he hung up the phone and ate dinner with Kira. Would things ever be the same again?

In a warehouse downtown...

Kimi woke up to find herself tied in a chair in a large, semi-lit room. The robbers had knocked her out after she tried to call out to Tommy, who was walking with his brother on the sidewalk.

Tommy had heard somebody call his name, and he was sure that it was Kimi, but he didn't know where she was yelling from. So, he shrugged his shoulders and continued talking to Dil.

All that she remembered after that was one of the robbers smack her across the face with a metal rod, and Chas screaming out and lunging after the person. She then heard a few shrieks from the van, and then some more yelling, until she finally passed out. The next thing she knew, she was tied up in this room.

The warehouse was full of boxes, crates, tables and chairs. She couldn't see that well, but she managed to make out a red headed man with large purple glasses and a blood-stained shirt sitting in the chair near her.

Her eyes went wide as she saw him. "Chas! Chas, you've got to wake up! Please!" she cried out to him. His head shot up like a rocket as he heard her voice, and they both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, thank goodness you're alright. I thought for sure that they had injured you severely when they hit you with that crowbar." Chas said.

"I'm fine, but do you know if they're still here?" Kimi asked nervously.

"I heard most of them leave in the truck, but I'm pretty sure that there are still a few left in the building. We'll get out of here Kimi, don't worry."

"I wouldn't count on it, monsieur Finster..."

The two of them looked and saw an evil-looking woman with a terrible smile plastered on her face. Kimi recognized this lady instantly- it was Coco LaBouche!


	12. Enough is Enough

Hey guys! Before I start this, I just wanted to say thanks to the people who've been reviewing my story lately. Your feedback is really awesome, since I actually take your reviews into consideration for the chapters. So KEEP ON REVIEWING PEOPLE! :)

Kimi couldn't believe who she was seeing. Coco was the person that she absolutely _hated _the most, since she treated her mother so badly back in Paris. Kimi had thought that she wouldn't have to worry about Coco anymore, but now here she was in America kidnapping her and Chas.

"Surprised to see me, Kimi? It's been a while, hasn't it?" she snarled at the poor girl.

"Wow. You came all the way over here just so that you could kidnap me? That's _really_ sad Coco, even for you." Kimi laughed as Coco turned red faced and angry.

Miss LaBouche slammed the table that she was in front of and yelled, "No, you good-for-nothing disproportioned ragamuffin! (Lol if you've seen Rugrats in Paris you'll know what I'm talking about). I came here because after your idiotic mother quit the organization, she convinced the other workers to form a revolution against me! I got demoted to garbage lady!"

She then continued, "Now, I have almost exacted complete revenge on Kira Watanabe, as she will never see her daughter ever again! Muhahahahahahahaha! It will all be over soon enough."

"Ok, first of all: you're a freakin' crazy person. Secondly, if you only wanted to get revenge on my mom, then why did you take Chas?" Kimi asked.

Coco face palmed and turned around to her henchmen. "Because, these people are blundering idiots! They were only supposed to take you, but _no_, they had to take another person. They should've just left him to burn in the restaurant! Why do I even pay you people?" she irately yelled to the robbers, who had quickly fled the warehouse after their boss was finished.

"Geez, you've been a pretty big failure lately, haven't you?" Kimi asked, as she was really enjoying the torment that she was giving to Coco.

"Listen, you... I've had just about enough of your lip. If you don't stop talking, I'll have absolutely no problem getting a gun and shooting your friend here! Do I make myself clear?"

Kimi quickly nodded, as she could see the pistol in her hand.

"Good... Now, I'm going back to the hideout to count all of the money that we got from the Java Lava." She said, and she walked away.

Kimi and Chas both heard the door slam, as well as a vehicle driving away.

Chas was the first to speak, "Woah, she's insane. But anyway, you were really brave in there Kimi! I'm impressed... Uh, Kimi?"

The Japanese girl was trembling in fear. Tears were flowing like waterfalls down her face, and she looked as white as a ghost.

"She... she... had a gun... she was going to kill you with it. I shouldn't have kept her going like that, Chas. I'm so sorry..." she cried.

Chas frowned and said, "Kimi, you have absolutely nothing to apologize to me about. This whole mess is because of that lady and her henchmen. Right now, we need to find a way to get out of here, wouldn't you agree?"

Sniffing, Kimi smiled and nodded. The two of them looked around for anything that could possibly break them out of the mess that they were currently in.

Meanwhile...

"So, it was a white van that you saw them in, correct?" Chuckie was answering some of the police officer's questions about the kidnappings. He didn't have a whole lot of info, but it was definitely better than nothing.

The officer then stated, "All right, this will do for now. Thank you very much Chuckie, as with you Mrs. Watanabe. We'll continue to look for these criminals and bring them to justice. We'll find these crooks, don't worry."

The two shook hands with the officer and were walking out of the station, until the officer added, "Oh, if you anything else comes up, call us right away. It could possibly help with the investigation. Also... we're all really sorry that this happened. The whole town is out looking for these people though, so on behalf of this entire police force, we're sorry."

The ride back home was a relatively long one for Chuckie. He couldn't get the thought that they were gone out of his head. He didn't have any other family to go back home to, so it was especially difficult to get through this.

What was even worse though, was the sheer amount of apologies and tears he found from people around school the next day.

It started as soon as he got to the bus stop. Tommy, Dil, Phil and Lil were all waiting for him on the sidewalk. As soon as she saw Chuckie, Lil immediately gave him a big hug (Awwwwwwww!). The others ran up to him and started talking to him.

"Hey, Chuck. Sorry man, this must be so awful for you right now." Phil said.

"Yeah, it's so bad that I can't even crack an alien joke right now. But... if you need them to vaporize those kidnappers for you, I can get them to do it for you. I've got the connections, C-man." Dil said, trying to brighten the situation.

Chuckie smiled slightly and said, "Thanks Dil, but I think this is something that aliens won't be able to fix."

The gang looked at him sadly. Frankly, Chuckie was getting sick of all of these people pitying him. He just wanted his life to go back to the way it was before the robbers came. Unfortunately, it was only going to get worse at school.

It was the absolute second worst day of Chuckie's life. The minute he got off the bus, people were staring at him with depressed looks on their faces. He replied nonchalantly to those who apologized for his losses, as he was ready to skip school for the rest of the day just to go home.

He thought, however, that Mr. Pangborn would at least not pity him. Surprisingly, he desperately wanted to be yelled at today- for anything at all. But Pangborn was the worst of all. He was the most sympathetic out of all of the teachers. He had to stop the lesson about six times so that he could cry, and when they had finally started working independently, he couldn't stop looking back at Chuckie and asking him if he was okay.

Inside, Chuckie was absolutely fuming. As soon as the bell rang, he grabbed the Rugrats and took them out to one of the picnic tables.

"Um... Chuckie, is everything all right? You seem more stressed out than this morning." Tommy inquired.

Chuckie quickly turned to face them and then he yelled, "I am so sick of everyone feeling sorry for me. This was the exact same thing that happened after everyone found out that Darrell was bullying me. Well not anymore," he paused for a minute, and then yelled out, "I'm going to find them! No matter what it takes, no matter where I have to go, I'm going to find my dad and Kimi and I'm going to bring them back home!"

Tommy saw how Chuckie was taking a stand, so he decided to go with it. "Count me in, Chuckie. I'm going to help."

Lil then said, "Me too, Chuckie! I'm not about to let you do this by yourself."

Then Phil said, "I'm in too, bud. Nobody hurts my friends and gets away with it!"

Finally Dil said, "No matter what happens C-man, we and the alien space armada won't let you down!"

Chuckie got a gleam in his eye, which was usually the one that Tommy had whenever he took on a leadership role. "Well then ladies and gentlemen," he said, "let's rock and roll."

Don't forget to read and review guys! Thanks! :D


	13. Nobody Screws With My Family

Kira sat on her bed, reading a mystery novel. She felt like reading a little bit since she hadn't been able to since they left Paris. She was about to finish the chapter, but all of a sudden her phone rang.

"Hello?" she asked politely.

"Ah, Kira... it's been a while, hasn't it?" a sinister voice asked.

"What do you want, Coco? I told you never to call me again. Goodbye."

"Oh, I think that you won't want to hang up that phone just yet, Kira."

Kira reluctantly kept on the line, but she was growing very impatient. "What is it, Coco?"

"I have a proposition for you-"

"Not interested. I never want to see you again. Bye."

"IF YOU EVER WANT TO SEE YOUR DAUGHTER AGAIN I SUGGEST YOU LISTEN TO THIS PROPOSAL!"

Kira was shocked by what she just heard. Did she just say that _she _had Kimi? Coco was going to pay, one way or another.

"Let Kimi go or so help me I'll..."

"I SAID QUIET! Now listen carefully. Here's my proposal: you pack up your belongings, catch a flight back to Paris and come work for me until I say you can leave. Then, and only then, will I release your daughter. As for monsieur Finster, well, he might not be so lucky..."

"Don't do anything to Chas! He's a good man, and you had no business taking him!"

"Hold on, I wasn't finished yet, Kira. My henchmen will kill him, unless you also bring me $10,000."

"... and then you'll release both of them?" Kira asked hesitantly.

"Yes, nothing will happen to them. I promise, Kira." She said coldly.

"...fine. Where and when do you want me to meet you?"

"Meet us at the warehouse near Appleton and Main Street tomorrow. You'll see a white van parked near it. Come _alone, _Kira, or the deal's off and I kill both of them."

"I swear if you lay one finger on them..."

"I won't have to if you do what I ask. See you later Kira! Hahahahahahahahahahah!"

Kira quickly hung up the phone before she did her evil laugh. She sat down and rubbed face with her hand. Kira was beyond stressed and upset right now.

She was taken back to reality when she heard the door open. Coming inside was a tall redhead with glasses on and a bag full of groceries.

"Hey, Kira. I got some groceries for you, and I actually used the key you got me this time- Hey, are you alright? Is there something wrong?"

She nodded and proceeded to tell Chuckie about the phone call she had just received.

**Later that afternoon...**

Chuckie stared sternly outwards as he sat on his porch. He had thought long and hard about the ransom that Kira had told him about, and he knew exactly what he was going to do.

This was his chance to find them, and he was going to bust them out.

Tonight was going to be it. Chuckie knew where Appleton and Main was, so he was going to take the bus over, sneak into the building, and get them out. The problem was, he knew that there would probably be guards everywhere, and he wasn't going to be able to get past them without some help.

One by one, his friends came over and asked Chuckie what he wanted them to do, but he wouldn't answer until they had all gathered. Once they were all here, he addressed them directly.

"Ok, the reason that I've invited you over here, is that at precisely 2:00, or maybe it was 2:13?"

"Just get to the point!" everyone shouted.

"All right! Geez! Kira got a call from her old boss Coco, saying that she was the one who kidnapped Kimi and my dad," he said, and then he continued, "It seems that she is holding them hostage in some warehouse downtown, on Main and Appleton to be exact."

He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and paused for a second, but then his expression shocked everyone as he turned from sad to determined. "I'm through with waiting around and hoping someone will find them. I'm going to find them, but I need your help to do so."

"Chuckie, is that you?"

Everyone turned to see Kira walking over to Chuckie's lawn. She had a worried look on her face that said that she didn't approve of what he was about to do. "You aren't about to go over there, are you? I can't let you kids go and do that! It's way too dangerous, and what would your parents say?"

Chuckie was about to say something, when Kira interrupted him. "Chuckie, I can't let you do this. Chas wouldn't want to find out that you got hurt in any way."

He looked down and replied, "I know, Kira. I just wanted to help, that's all."

Chuckie then shot his head up, as an idea came to his head. "Guys, I've got a crazy idea that just might work! Listen up..."

After some explaining from Charles, the Rugrats (and even Kira) agreed to his plan. Kira was going to meet Coco tomorrow, and then the final plan would be set in motion.

**The next day...**

"Crowbar? Ropes? Safety Kit? Marbles?"

"Check, check, check, check. We've got everything C-man, though I still don't know what the marbles are for." Dil said.

"You'll see soon enough, Dil. Anyway, Kira, we're all ready to go!"

Mrs. Watanabe motioned them all towards her car. As she backed up out of the driveway, she asked Chuckie, "Are you sure that this is going to work?"

Chuckie waved his hand in front of him and said, "No worries, everything will work out. All that you have to worry about is Coco, that's all."

"Yeah, and if she decides to shoot us all, since you know that they have guns, right?"

Chuckie gulped, as he had kind of forgotten about that. He realized that he friends were still in the car, though, so he shook his head and replied, "That's why we have backup coming. We'll be fine... I think..."

After around 20 minutes of driving, they came to a street just before Appleton. Kira unlocked the doors and the kids started to climb out, but she stopped Chuckie just before he left.

"Chuckie, you have to promise me that you'll run and get your friends out if anything bad happens, ok? I'd never forgive myself if something bad happened to you."

Chuckie nodded, and Kira gave him a hug before he got out. At first, Chuckie felt really awkward, but he returned the hug anyway. It felt strange to him, since no female adult had ever cared so much about him. Chuckie really appreciated that someone else was also looking out for him, though.

He waved goodbye to Kira, and she drove off to her destination.

"Ok guys, let's move out!" Chuckie shouted, and they went down one of the dark alleys in between some buildings. Within minutes, they were completely out of sight.

Kira stopped the car on the other side of the street. An evil-looking woman with a gruesome smirk on her face stood in front of the warehouse where Chas and Kimi were being held. Kira walked out of the car, carrying a suitcase full of (what Coco presumably thought was) money.

"Ah, Kira! I'm so glad that you decided to show up. This is a much better way to deal with each other than on the phone, don't you think?"

"Where are they?" Kira asked with a pissed off expression on her face.

"Your loudmouthed daughter and the shopkeeper are here, don't worry. Now, hand over the money, and I will give them to you."

**Inside the warehouse...**

"Ow! Phillip, that was my foot you just stood on!"

"Well next time, get out of the way, Lillian!"

"Guys! Be quiet, we're almost there!"

The gang had snuck in through the back of the building and were heading into a room which was full of crates. It was difficult to see anything, so they decided to break off into groups: Tommy and Dil, Chuckie by himself, and finally, Phil and Lil.

Chuckie was feeling his way around the room, when he realized that he had a flashlight in his backpack that he could've used the whole time. He smacked himself on the forehead and kept going.

Tommy and Dil weren't having much success, as they were coming to fallen crates everwhere they turned. "Wow, another box. Isn't that a massive surprise? Ooohh! What's that over there? Oh, let me guess: ANOTHER FREAKIN' BOX! This is ridiculous!" Tommy hissed.

Dil put a hand on his brother's shoulder and whispered, "T, have you ever considered taking anger management classes? Or maybe try walking backwards, 'cause that seems to help me when I go FREAKIN' BANANAS!"

As they both tried to find another path, the Deville twins were having a tough time too. In fact, they were having the worst time out of everyone.

"Great job, Lil! It's another dead end! If you had just let me lead the way, this wouldn't have happened!"

Lil went boiling mad at her brother. "Phillip, dear, sweet, gentle, Phillip... if you don't shut the hell up right now, I'M GOING TO BEAT YOU WITH THE CROWBAR! YOU TRY FINDING YOUR WAY IN THE DARK NEXT TIME, SMARTY PANTS!"

Chuckie was still searching determinedly for his dad and Kimi. As he continued to look around, however, the battery slowly died out on him until he was left in darkness. "Oh, that's just great. No wonder I had left this thing off before..."

He placed his hands out in front of him and continued to feel his surroundings again. As he was walking, he bumped into something hard. It felt like a chair, but he couldn't be sure, so he put his hand out to feel it again. What he felt wasn't a chair, though. It felt like 2 pom poms with hair instead of the plastic material.

"Hey, I know that my hair is awesome, but you don't need to touch it, ok?"

Chuckie fell backwards when he heard that voice. His hand trembled, but he managed to speak softly.

"K-Kimi?"

"Chuckie? Is that you? Oh my god! Thank goodness you're here! Please untie us! Your dad is sitting beside me and needs to get a doctor right away and- OW OW OW!"

Chuckie quickly pulled his hand back from her arm, but she then said, "Phew... It's alright, Chucko. They beat me pretty well before, but please untie us!"

He untied the two of them, and he and Kimi lifted Chas on to his feet. They put his arms around their shoulders and ran out to the back door. The rest of the gang was already waiting for them outside, as Chuckie had radioed them saying that he found them.`

**Meanwhile...**

Coco held out a contract in front of Kira with a pen in her hand. She was getting tired of the stalling that Kira was doing for some odd reason, and she had had enough.

"Sign the contract, Kira, before I change my mind!" Coco yelled at her.

Kira stared at the contract for a minute, grabbed it and the pen, and tore it in two. She threw it on the ground, smooshed it with her foot, and said, "There's no deal to be made Coco. I'm not doing this."

"You fool! You will regret the day that you ever crossed Coco LaBouche! I'll kill both of them and you!"

"Oh, I don't think that's going to happen."

Coco got a puzzled look on her face and asked, "What do you mean?"

As she asked this, about 20 police officers popped out of hiding and pointed their guns at Coco. The rest of her henchmen were in handcuffs, and the chief spoke up.

"Coco LaBouche, you're under arrest for the burning of the Java Lava, and for the kidnappings of Kimi Watanabe and Chas Finster!"

As they moved Coco into the police car, she struggled violently. "You can't do this to me! Do you have any idea who you people are dealing with here?"

"Yeah, yeah. Tell it to the judge." With that, the police car drove back to the police station.

Out of the corner of her eye, Kira could see some figures coming through from the back. She recognized the 5 people whom she dropped off earlier, but she couldn't quite tell who the other 2 were.

One had big glasses and wasn't very tall, while the other had purple hair in 2 pigtails...

"KIMI!" she cried out.

"MOM!" Kimi called back, and the 2 of them embraced tightly. The rest of the gang smiled at the scene; they were glad that Kimi had come back to them.

Chuckie, on the other hand, was still very concerned about his father's well-being. "Kira! We need to get my dad to the hospital! He's been shot in the stomach!"

Kira quickly nodded and rushed everyone into her car. She drove to the hospital (with people literally sitting on top of eachother because of the lack of seats) at a speed that was well over the limit.

Chuckie sat with his father in his lap. As tears rolled down his face, Kimi looked over. She too was extremely worried about him, as Chas had really started to grow on her when they were trapped in the warehouse.

She grabbed Chuckie's hand and squeezed it, and Chuckie looked up at her. She was trying so hard to be brave, but through her eyes Chuckie saw a little bit of fear.

As Kimi faced her head forward, Chuckie stared out the window. Kimi could feel her hand being squeezed back by Chuckie, who really needed the support she was giving to him right now.


	14. At the Hospital

Before I start this, I wanted to thank _yougotburned _and _lonneytunecrazy_ for reviewing practically every chapter in my story. Your feedback has really helped me along so far, and I really appreciate it :). Not to say that I don't appreciate the other reviews you guys have given though.

Also, this isn't the last chapter yet. I still feel that I can go different ways with the Finster family plot, so I'll let you know when the last one will be. Without further ado, here's the next chapter.

**The next day...**

Kira sat in one of the chairs that were located in her daughter's hospital room. It turned out that Kimi had broken her left arm and gotten a pretty nasty concussion from the previous events.

They had taken Chas into the hospital, but as Kimi walked in, she started to feel a little groggy and unbalanced. She held her hand to her forehead, stumbled into the receptionist's desk and passed out. She hadn't woken up since yesterday, but the doctor's said that she would be fine eventually.

'Why couldn't it have been me,' she thought to herself, 'What did Kimi ever do to anyone? She shouldn't have had to go through this.'

Kira sighed and closed her eyes. She needed to regain her composure after all of the trauma that she had experienced. She thought of what life was like before all of this began; when she and Hiro were married and had a beautiful daughter together. Kira then thought of more recently, when she and Kimi had started their new life in America, and how the Finsters were so kind when they offered to help them out. Thinking of these things helped to calm her down, even though these moments before had been few and far between.

Kira's thoughts were interrupted when she heard a soft groaning sound. She opened her eyes to find Kimi awake in the hospital bed, looking around the room.

"Mmmfff... Uh, where am I?" Kimi asked groggily.

Kira rushed over to her daughter's bedside and explained, "You're in the hospital, Kimi. Don't you remember? You passed out as soon as we walked in through the door. Everyone was worried about you. Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm okay, but I don't remember that much after seeing Chuckie in the warehouse. Why are we in the hospital?"

Kira lowered her head and answered, "You have a severe concussion and a broken left arm. It's a good thing that nothing else happened to you."

Kimi nodded, and then she asked, "Where is everyone, Mom? Is everybody back home?"

Kira shook her head and turned to the wall. Kimi frowned and asked her mom, "Is everyone alright, Mom? Did something bad happen?"

**Down the hall...**

Chuckie sat in the hall while doctors operated on his dad in his room. The bullet had gone into his stomach, and they didn't know if Chas was going to make it.

Those words were ringing around in Chuckie's head. 'Not going to make it? It can't be true! If there is a God up there, please save my dad! He's all that I have left, and I'd do anything to save him!'

The hallway was almost deserted, as everyone else had gone home for the night. The fact that it was deserted made Chuckie feel even more alone than he ever had been before. 'I've already lost my mother... my dad's been taking care of me my entire life. I can't lose him... not now... not like this...'

He heard the door creak open, and Dr. Carmichael stepped out in a surgeon's outfit. She looked sympathetically towards Chuckie, and then she explained, "We've taken the bullet out of your father's stomach, but he hasn't woken up just yet... You can go inside, if you'd like to."

Chuckie nodded and walked into the room.

As he stepped inside, he saw that the doctors had put him on some sort of breathing system, and connected to him were lots of little tubes. His father's eyes were closed, and Chuckie could see that his breathing was slight.

He walked over and sat down in a chair. He grabbed his dad's hand and squeezed it, hoping that he would squeeze back, but he didn't.

After several minutes of just staring at him, Chuckie cried himself to sleep. He just wished that all of this business with Coco had never happened, and that everything would just return to the way it was before. Unfortunately, Chuckie was faced with a different reality.

The door creeped open again, and Kira stood in the doorway, hoping that she wouldn't disturb anyone. She walked over to Chuckie and nudged him in the shoulder.

"...Zzz... Wh-what? It's not time for school yet, leave me alone... Zzz..."

Kira shook him again, but this time she said, "Chuckie, Kimi's awake now, and she said that she wanted to see you. How about I stay here for a while, and you go see her?"

Chuckie nodded sleepily, yawned, and slowly started walking out. He took one last look at Kira as she held on to his father's hand, and walked down the hall.

He passed by a number of doors before he finally found the one that he was looking for: 213. Chuckie opened the door slowly, since he wasn't sure whether Kimi was asleep or not.

"Kimi? Are you awake?" Chuckie asked quietly.

The Watanabe girl rose up in the bed as she heard her friend. "Yeah, come on in."

Chuckie walked into the room and sat down. He noticed that this room had a great view of the outside, and it seemed much friendlier in this room than in his dad's.

"So... how are you holding up? I know you must be really traumatized with this, but..."

"I'm good, for the most part. Well, other than me being kidnapped and everything..."

The 2 of them laughed to try to lighten up the situation, but there was an awkward pause after they finished.

Chuckie tried to break the ice. "So, nice weather we're having, eh?"

Kimi nodded and simply said, "Yep." Another awkward pause came between the two of them, and it was really starting to irritate Kimi.

"What is wrong with us, Chuckie? We talked to eachother all the time without any problems before! Why should it be any different now?"

The Finster kid shrugged his shoulders and replied, "I'm not sure. I guess this whole thing has kind of messed everything up, you know? I mean, you're in the hospital with a broken arm and a severe concussion, the Java Lava was burned down, and my dad..."

He stopped midsentence and put his hand under his chin.

"Chuckie, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. This isn't your fault- you got hurt too."

"Yeah, but I shouldn't have let them shoot him in the stomach. I should've done something."

"Kimi, listen to me," Chuckie said, "don't ever think that any of this was your fault. It was just some crazy woman who was out for revenge, and she's now behind bars. We're just going to forget about this whole ordeal and move on."

Chuckie's breathing was getting a bit heavy, as he was getting worked up about this. He closed his eyes, sighed, and said to Kimi, "I just want things to go back to normal."

Kimi looked at her depressed friend. She thought of all of the things that Chuckie had done for her, like helping her adjust to her new life in America, standing up to that bully, and rescuing her from the kidnappers. Kimi wanted to find a way to repay him, but she didn't know how to do that exactly.

"Your dad is a really awesome person, you know that?"

Chuckie looked over to her, and had an expression on his face that told her to continue. "I mean it. When we were locked up in that warehouse, he kept me from losing my mind. He calmed me down, talked to me, and even helped me out with problems that I had been having before. I've never met anyone quite like him in my entire life."

After about a minute, she decided to change the subject. "So, Chuckie... have you asked Lil out yet?"

Chuckie's eyes went wide, as he wasn't expecting to hear that. "No... and what makes you think I like her anyway?"

"Come on, Chucko! You can't fool me. I've seen you check her out in class before, and I've got a feeling that she likes you, too."

"Really? I mean, not that I like her or anything. I was just curious, is all."

Kimi giggled, and she said, "Yeah, Chuckie. I'm almost 100% certain that she likes you! You've gotta make your move later, or she might think that you don't like her."

"... well, suppose that I "did" like Lil (which I'm not saying that I do), how do you think I should ask her out?"

Kimi scratched her chin and replied, "Well, you could take her to a place that she likes, like the park or the movies. Don't immediately ask her out as soon as you get there though, as you don't want to seem desperate. Try to make the evening enjoyable with her, and when the time's right, ask her if she would go out with you."

Chuckie raised his eyebrow and asked, "How will I know when the time is right?"

Sitting as if she was meditating, Kimi replied, "You will know when you feel it, young grasshopper. You will feel it."

They both shared a real laugh together for the first time in weeks. It felt good for them to talk like this again, as friends and not 2 complete strangers.

"So, is your mom doing better? I'd imagine that she would be having a harder time than any of us."

Kimi again nodded and explained, "Yeah, she's getting better, especially now that we're all back together again."

She paused for a second, but then she continued, "I think that she's getting pretty lonely, though. That's my major concern."

Kimi had already talked about how Kira had gotten divorced many years ago, so Chuckie was respectful about the situation. "I think that may have been another reason why she came here. She wanted to find someone to be in a relationship with, but she couldn't find anyone back in Paris."

Chuckie thought that now would be as good a time as any to talk about his dad, so he said, "My dad was looking for someone to be with too. I guess he just never found the right person."

The 2 of them realized that both of their parents were looking to be in a relationship, and they stared wide-eyed at eachother for a little while.

"You don't think that..."

"No, that wouldn't happen... would it?"

The two of them shook their heads and laughed slightly. In their minds, though, they knew that their parents liked eachother, but they decided to avoid that right now.

Instead, Chuckie decided to bug Kimi about a certain issue.

"So, when are you going to ask Tommy out?"

Kimi blushed instantly, and said, "What makes you say that? And hey, you can't ask me who I like just because I asked you!"

Chuckie smirked, as he had her right where he wanted her. "Oh, so you do like him then! Ha ha!"

Kimi was now blushing beat red from embarrassment. "I do not! I've barely known him for that long and... I... shut up, Chuckie."

They laughed and continued to talk about whatever was on their minds. They talked about home life, school, crushes, sports, anything that came to their minds. It was just like old times once again.

By the time that they finished, it was around 1:00 in the morning, and her concussion was making Kimi very sleepy. As her eyes slowly started to close, Chuckie asked her if she wanted to be alone.

"No, it's cool. You can stay here- but try not to snore!"

"I don't snore! But, I'll try to keep the noise down so you can get some sleep. You're going to need it."

Kimi smiled and rolled over in the hospital bed. Chuckie then heard her say to him, "Thanks, Chuckie, for everything. You're like the sibling I never had."

Chuckie looked over at the Watanabe girl surprised. He never even thought about having a sibling before, but he thought that it would be pretty cool to have one.

He smiled and leaned back in the chair, before slowly starting to close his eyes. "No problem... sis..." He thought that Kimi hadn't heard that last part, but she could hear it clearly.

Her smile grew larger as she drifted off into sleep.

**Around 3:00...**

Kira walked into room 213, and wanted to tell Chuckie that his father had woken up in the middle of the night, but she heard the soft sounds of 2 teenagers sleeping, so she refrained from doing so.

She smiled at the 2 of them, wrote Chuckie a note that instructed him to go to his father's room, and walked over to Kimi.

Kira kissed her daughter's forehead and walked over to the door.

"Sweet dreams, you two." She whispered, and she turned off the light.

Little did any of them know that soon, the two families would become closer than they ever had before.

Well? What did you guys think? Leave your reviews, and I'll write the next chapter soon!


	15. Good News

"Kimi! Kimi, wake up!"

Chuckie was quickly shaking the Japanese girl in an attempt to return her to consciousness, but so far it wasn't working.

"Mmmf... leave me alone. It's too early... zzz..." came the reply.

Chuckie shook his head in exhaustion. Nothing had worked so far, so instead of trying the same tactic over again, he decided to do something else.

"Alright then. I guess that you don't want to hear the recent news, either."

That sentence slowly brought Kimi awake, as she lifted herself up on the bed. "What are you talking about, Chuck? What recent news?"

She rubbed her eyes, looked at Chuckie's face and saw a smile creep onto his lips.

"No way, are you serious, Chuckie?"

He started chuckling and letting out tears of joy as he cried out, "He's alive! He's gonna make it, Kimi!"

"OH MY GOSH! I'm so happy for you, bud!" she said excitedly. She gave her good friend a huge embrace and started laughing as well.

After a few seconds of catching their breath, Kimi stated, "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go see him- as long as he's okay with people coming in."

"Yeah, he'll be happy to see you. Come on!"

The two walked down the hallway to Chas' room (though Kimi was forced to walk slower due to her injuries). When they finally reached his room, they opened the door slowly and entered.

In the bed was Chas, who was still connected to some tubes for support. However, he looked much better than he had before, and as soon as he saw the 2 teens he grinned.

Kimi didn't know what to say. She was so relieved that he was alright, as she never would've forgiven herself if something bad happened to him. She noticed that her mom was holding Chas' hand, but she decided to ignore that for right now. The important thing was that Chas was alive and well; nothing else mattered at that point.

"Welcome back, Chas." Kimi said, fighting off the tears that were swelling.

Chas nodded and replied, "It's good to be back, Kimi. I didn't think I would've seen your face again."

Kimi rushed over to Chas and hugged him, while being careful not to break any of the hospital equipment. Kira smiled and looked at Chuckie, who smiled and nodded.

They left Kimi and Chas alone in the room for a few minutes, as they needed to catch up.

'Glad to see things are finally back to normal' Chuckie thought as he sat against the wall.

**1 month later...**

"Dil, pass the popcorn down! I didn't buy it just so you could eat it all!" Tommy hissed.

"You owe me, T! I bailed out your ass when you broke Mom's dining room chair last week!"

The rest of the group groaned. They were trying to watch the new Transformers movie in the theatre, but the Pickles brothers wouldn't stop arguing. Phil and Chuckie were really the only ones who were enjoying this movie (**by the way, Transformers 3 was epic!**), so they were getting really fed up.

So, doing the first thing that came to their minds, Chuckie and Phil started telling them to can it. "If you guys don't shut up, we're gonna come back there!" Chuckie yelled.

"Dude, you're really bad at comebacks, especially threatening ones." Phil said.

Kimi and Lil could only shake their heads in embarrassment. "I come back for 3 days and they still act like immature kids! We're going to get kicked out of the theatre at this rate!" Kimi complained.

"I know! I mean, have you listened to what they're yelling about? Popcorn! That is absolutely ridiculous-"

"I couldn't agree more, young lady."

Standing right beside them was one of the theatre staff. He was a tall, muscular guy with a flashlight in his hand and a frown on his large, stone-cold face. He motioned for them to leave, so they all got up and walked out of the theatre.

"Wow... Kicked out of a movie theatre. That's never happened to us before." Phil said sarcastically.

Tommy scratched the back of his head and said, "I can't help feeling somewhat responsible."

Everyone quickly turned back to him with ticked-off looks on their faces. Tommy and Dil smile sheepishly back to them.

"Tell you what: let's go get a pizza, my treat. There's one just down the road from here, and our parents won't be coming for at least an hour."

The Rugrats nodded and walked down the road.

As they moved along, there was an awkward pause surrounding them. Deciding to break the ice, Lil asked, "So, what are your guys' plans for the summer?"

"I don't know."

"Beats me."

"Ditto."

"Not a clue."

"No idea."

They all laughed together, as nobody had any idea what they were doing. "I guess we'll be spending our whole summer together as a group then, huh?" Kimi inquired.

"Guess so."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Sure thing."

"I'm good with that."

"Oui, mademoiselle."

Kimi gave a confused look at Tommy, who smiled and patted her shoulder.

Lil noticed Kimi's red face and goofy grin as she turned around, and she thought, 'Oh boy. This should be fun.'

The gang walked into the pizzeria and ordered lots of different things, much to Tommy's dismay. He shook his head and went along with whatever choices they made, and he was glad that they had practically forgotten all about the movie.


	16. Moments Like This

For your enjoyment, here's the next chapter!

"Chuckie, could you come here for a second?" his father asked.

Chuckie walked up from the couch over to the garage where Chas was calling from. He had just been released from the hospital the day before, and he was having some trouble moving around.

Chuckie lifted his father's arms onto his shoulders; careful not to do anymore damage to his already shaky physique.

Chas was placed in a rocking chair near the television, and he sighed as he slipped into it. "Thanks, Chuckie. That's much better."

Mr. Finster sighed as he layed back in the chair. He was having trouble adjusting to his home life, as he hadn't been back here in over a month. He couldn't move around nearly as much as he would've liked, and going back to work was literally impossible since the building had been burned down.

"Something bugging you, dad?" his son asked with a concerned look in his eyes.

"I just didn't expect to feel like a stranger in this neighbourhood again. It's rather depressing, actually."

Chuckie was flipping through the television channels as he replied, "You just need some time to adjust, that's all. Pretty soon you'll be back into your regular, old routine- just like it was before."

"I'll have to hold you to that." Chas said with a grin. However, Chas wasn't feeling so confident when he said that, and his son could tell right away. The terrible memories of the kidnappings were still floating around in Chas' head, and it would take some time for them to disappear.

Suddenly, the two heard the doorbell ring. When Chuckie opened the door, a young Japanese girl with 2 pigtails was standing on the front porch.

"Oh, hey Chuckie. My mom was going to ask this, but have you guys eaten dinner yet? She figured that Chas wouldn't have been able to make it tonight." Kimi asked.

The red-head gave her a confused look and replied, "Uh, no we haven't eaten dinner. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, all right. Do you 2 want to come over then? We're barbecuing hot dogs in the backyard."

"Dad? Are you up for hot dogs?" When his dad nodded his head, Chuckie replied, "Sounds good, thanks. We'll be over in about 10 minutes."

Kimi smiled excitedly when she heard this. "Great! See you then!"

With that she ran back over to her house, leaving Chuckie to go upstairs and get ready. 'This is a great idea. Not only will it get dad out of the house, but it'll also get him to enjoy himself.'

The Finsters arrived at the Watanabe's door with some extra food just in case. As Kira lead them to the backyard, Chuckie took a second to look around their home. He'd only ever been in there once, and it certainly hadn't changed a lot from last time. It was much smaller than his own house, but it was a good size for only 2 people.

He saw Kimi relaxing on one of the lawn chairs under the shade of some trees, so he decided to go over there. 'That'll give the grown-ups some "privacy". Ha ha ha!' he thought with a smirk.

"What's up, Chucko? How's it going?" Kimi asked, not moving at all when he came over.

"Not much uhh... Kimo!" he replied, much to the disapproval of Kimi.

"Don't do that." she said back, however she quickly giggled at Chuckie's expression.

Kimi patted the chair beside her and motioned for Chuckie to have a seat. As he did, Chuckie looked over at his father, who was striking up a conversation with Kira over on the patio.

"They're getting along well, aren't they?" Chuckie asked with a blank expression. Kimi simply nodded in response.

Kimi really didn't know what to say to the freckled teenager. Should she tell her about her and her mother's conversation from last night? Or would that just make things awkward? She decided to take a chance and ask him, "Chuckie, do you think that they... well..."

"Like each other?" he finished for her. Kimi stared at Chuckie, waiting for his take on the situation.

"Yeah, I do," he said hesitantly, "that doesn't creep you out, does it?"

"No, of course not! I was just wondering, that's all." Chuckie looked back to her through the corner of his eye. He could tell that there was more to it than that, since she was looking down slowly. "I'm all ears, Kimi." he stated, surprising the Watanabe girl.

She hesitated before explaining this to him. She didn't want to make it seem like she wasn't happy about this, but it was very difficult.

"Well... she hasn't actually gone out with anyone since the divorce. I'm not sure if she'd be able to handle another relationship. Also... do you think that things would be awkward for us, as well?"

Chuckie thought this through. He'd never thought about how Kira had gotten divorced, so he decided to take this slowly. He sighed, and said, "Kimi, if something like that did happen, then we'd be able to work with it. I mean, look at where we are now? We've come so far since the incident. I honestly thought that things would never be the same, but here we are- sitting in your backyard, chillaxing and eating hot dogs. I'd say we'd be fine."

"Wow... I never thought about that. We are better friends than we ever have been, aren't we?" she asked, astonished that Chuckie was so good at giving advice.

He nodded with a smile, which gave Kimi some relief. "So... do you think we should just go with the flow?"

"Sounds reasonable to me." he responded. Kira called them over to the patio since the hot dogs were ready, so they got up and tried to put that thought in the back of their heads.

For one slight moment, however, Kimi thought about what it would be like to have a real family again. The thought of Chuckie and Chas in that family then came to her head.

She looked up, and a small grin appeared on her face.

Sorry if I'm dragging this on too long, but I just want to make this story absolutely perfect before I start my next one :) leafs


	17. Rebuilding Project

**Inside the Watanabes' house...**

Kimi was writing a letter to her father back in Japan, who had already written her one last week but didn't arrive until that morning. She was having some difficulty thinking about what to write down, however. 'How the hell do you tell someone about your new life in one little letter when so much has happened? I know...'

After her first paragraph, she decided to take the main ideas of her stay in the US and write those down. Afterwards, she wrote that he should come visit or at least call her to find out more.

She sighed as she finished the last sentence, which read: "No matter what happens to our family, I'll always love you". Kimi really wanted to see Hiro again, but he wasn't an easy person to reach. It seemed like he was always working, and this was a main reason that Kira divorced him. Hiro couldn't really find a lot of time for his family.

She put the letter in an envelope, sealed it up, and went down to the mailbox. She noticed Phil, Dil and Tommy were riding their bikes down the street towards her, so she waved and they came over; screeching their bikes to a halt.

"Hey guys," she greeted them, "where are you all off to?"

Phil was the first to speak. "We're going over to help with the reconstruction. You know, the Java Lava."

"Wait, they're rebuilding the restaurant? Do the Finsters know that their doing this?" Kimi asked, puzzled.

Tommy shook his head and said, "No, and that's the awesome part about it. It'll be a total surprise, and only a few families are doing it so that there won't be too much attention. Do you wanna come with us?" He had a look in his eyes that almost begged for her to come with them.

"Sure, that'd be awesome! Let me just get my stuff inside the house, though, and I'll be right out."

She hurried back home and unlocked the front door. The 3 boys waited patiently in the driveway while she went in.

To Kimi's surprise, however, her mother was wearing a dark blue dress and earrings; sitting on the couch.

"Woah, mom! Why are you all fancied up?"

Kira slowly turned around and nervously responded, "Oh, this? I'm just uh... I'm just going out to a restaurant tonight, that's all."

"Really? Who are you going with?"

"Oh... it's uh... a person that I met online. That e-harmony site actually works surprisingly! Ha ha... ha... heh..."

Kimi looked at her mother confused. Why was she acting all suspicious? Unless...

"Mom, I wouldn't happen to know this person, would I?"

Kira quickly shook her head and exclaimed, "No, no, like I said before I met him online. You wouldn't know him."

"Okay... then you wouldn't mind if I asked what his name is, would you?"

"I don't really see why this makes a difference, but his name is uh... Paul McCartney."

"Are you telling me this guy is from the Beatles?" Kimi asked in disbelief.

"Names aren't important right now... shouldn't you be getting ready to go with your friends, Kimi?"

Kimi had a knowing smirk and put her hand on her face. "Whatever you say, Mom. Have fun on your date with... ahem... 'Paul'." She chuckled and ran to get her bag from her room.

After nearly 15 minutes of waiting, Kimi finally came out with her bike. "What took you so long?" Phil curiously asked.

"Sorry about that... my Mom's a terrible liar." she explained. Tommy, Phil and Dil all shrugged their shoulders and continued riding to their destination.

Once they got to the burned-down coffee shop, they saw that Betty Deville was already unloading crates of supplies from one of the pickup trucks. Some of the other parents were there too, including the Tommy and Dil's, as well as Howard Deville, Susie's parents and Angelica's parents.

Lil, Susie and Angelica all had construction helmets on, with the latter complaining about the hat messing up her hair.

As Kimi parked her bike, she noticed a little picture frame with Chuckie and Chas' picture in it.

"Let's do this," she said to her friends determinedly, "for the Finsters."

The teens all nodded and started on what was to be the greatest building project of the year (for the gang, anyway).

Sorry if this is a little short, but things are going to get interesting. For those who have kept on reviewing (i.e. _looneytunes_) thank you so much. Your feedback is greatly helping me write this story. To the other reviewers, I appreciate your feedback just as much, and I'll be thanking all of you when this is all over. Please keep on reviewing!


	18. Shock

Tommy stood in front of the almost-fully reconstructed Java Lava. He couldn't believe how far they'd come since they started- it was only the 3rd day of building, and they were practically finished!

He walked up and placed his hand on the brick wall in front of him. He remembered how happy Chas used to be when he was well enough to work in here, and how all of the parents would sit at the tables and talk about their daily lives over coffee. He remembered how all of the younger guys- himself, Lil, Dil, Phil, Susie, Angelica, Chuckie and recently Kimi- would hang out here after school; doing whatever came to their minds.

"Man, they're gonna be so happy when they see this again." He said aloud to himself.

"They sure will be."

Tommy turned around to see none other than Kimi standing behind him with a grin on her face. "How long were you there for?" he asked whilst chuckling.

"Sorry about that, I just saw you from across the road by yourself so I felt like coming over." she replied with a look of embarrassment.

Tommy looked at her with a happy expression, but then turned to look at the building again. "So, how have things with you been lately?" he asked.

"Pretty decent, all things considered. We've gotten pretty used to this new lifestyle, and my Mom's seemed happier... recently."

Tommy turned his head back to her with a raised eyebrow, so she continued, "I don't think I'm at liberty to say this right now, Tommy."

He just decided to let it go, and took a look at his watch. The time was 5:30- meaning that he had to go home for dinner. "Well, I've gotta be heading home. Are you gonna come here tomorrow morning?"

"Yep, I'll be here. See you later then!"

With that, the 2 went their separate ways. Both of them wanted to spend more time with each other, but were unable to do so. As Kimi headed back to her house, she noticed that her mom's car wasn't in the driveway.

Rummaging through her bag, she pulled out her house key and put it into the door slot. She walked inside and walked into the kitchen to find whatever was still edible in the refrigerator.

'Hmm... I think I'll go with the leftover tuna casserole from last night, and maybe I'll cook some vegetables. Hey, what's that note?' she wondered, looking over to a small sticky note on the countertop.

The message from Kira read: "Kimi, I'm going out again tonight. Cook whatever you want from the fridge, and don't stay up too late. I'll be back later, honey. Love, Mom"

Kimi was slightly annoyed and impressed about the past few weeks. Annoyed because once again she was alone in the house, but impressed because this was the 5th date that she'd been on with this guy.

'Boy, Paul McCartney must be a really good catch,' she thought with a chuckle, 'I wonder what Chuckie's doing tonight?'

She was about to reach for the phone to call him, but she then realized that he was a mere 10 feet from her house. 'I'm way too used to calling Lil.' she thought.

As she knocked once again on the Finsters' door, she could hear footsteps from inside the house. When Chuckie opened the door he said, "Oh, what's up, Kimi? I didn't know you were back."

Kimi bit her lip, since she didn't want Chuckie to find out about the surprise. "Er, yeah, I just went out for a bike ride for a couple of hours. I just got back. Anyways, do you want to come over? My mom's out on a date and I've got nothing to do."

"Sure thing. Actually, there's nothing to do at my house either. My dad went out bowling with some of his friends apparently. I'll be right over."

Chuckie closed the door and started gathering some movies for them to watch. He had a whole collection to choose from, which made it all the more difficult for him to pick out.

'Let's see... Austin Powers, Harry Potter, Terminator, Bruce Bigallow's European Gigolo...' he looked at that last movie with confusion, and then said to himself, 'I'll put that one back in the box.'

**10 minutes later... **

Chuckie had decided on picking Mission Impossible, since she knew that Kimi liked action movies. He popped the movie into the DVD player and sat down on the opposite couch from Kimi.

"So, what do you think our parents are actually doing tonight?" Chuckie asked as the opening scene started.

Kimi dryly laughed, as it seemed that Chas wasn't the only one who was lying about tonight. "I honestly have no idea. There's no way that she's going out with Paul McCartney, so it's gotta be someone from around here."

Chuckie smirked and replied, "Maybe my dad went to a disco club, and right now has one of those bushy afros with the comb in it. Oh! And maybe he's got one of those white suits on! Yeah, you know those flashy white long-sleeved jackets and long white pants! Now he's probably doing that move where you put your finger up in the air, and..."

Kimi had been staring at Chuckie for the past 5 minutes looking at him like he was an idiot.

He shrugged his shoulders and nonchalantly suggested, "Eh, or he could be bowling."

"What the hell did you put in your popcorn, Finster?"

They didn't speak for the duration of the movie, since the action was starting to build up. When it ended, Chuckie looked up at the clock.

"10:00- my dad should be getting home by now. I better get going. Thanks for having me over, Kimi."

She nodded her head and said, "Yeah, no problem. Hey... do you hear someone pulling into the driveway?"

They both walked over to the door, and Kimi started to turn the handle.

"I had a great time tonight, Kira. We should do this again sometime."

"I agree, but we'd better keep this a secret from the kids until we're ready to tell them. Anyway, see you later! Kira kissed the mysterious man and turned to go back to the house.

Kira immediately dropped the purse she was holding and stared wide-eyed and mouth open at Kimi and Chuckie, who were standing in the doorway; shock would have been an understatement for the current situation they were in.

"Kira, what's wrong? You dropped your bag."

Kira's date picked the purse off of the ground and was about to give it back to her, when he heard Chuckie's voice.

"Dad?"

"Oh, hi Chuckie!" he said without looking up. When he realized what had happened, he went as pale as a ghost, stared up at Kimi and Chuckie, and collapsed on the ground.

Nobody went to help him, since nobody could move. They all just stared at each other, not saying anything.

What did you think? Read & Review plz ppl!


	19. Good & Ready

Chuckie twirled his cereal around in his bowl with a spoon. On any normal weekend, he would've automatically called Tommy or Phil to hang out for the day. Obviously, this wasn't one of those days.

He didn't even feel like eating this morning, he was so exhausted. He hadn't gotten any sleep last night since he had so many questions swirling in his mind. Most of them were about why his father would do something like this to him (it was a pretty big secret to keep from him, after all!), but others were about what would happen next.

He heard footsteps coming from the staircase, so he pretended to eat his breakfast to make the interrogation process less, well, awkward.

"Morning, Dad." Chuckie said in a rather monotone voice.

"Morning to you too, Chuckie. Did you sleep well?" his father asked in response.

Chuckie shrugged his shoulders and continued to look at his food. After a brief pause between the 2 of them, he finally asked, "So, when were you going to tell me?"

"Uh... tell you what, son?"

The younger redhead gave him an annoyed look, as his father was obviously trying to avoid the subject. "Oh, I don't know. How about the fact that you're dating my friend's mother? You never mentioned this once!"

Chas scratched the back of his head and sighed. "Ok, ok. I know that I should've told you beforehand, but we didn't want things to become awkward between you and Kimi."

"Is it not awkward now?"

"Chuckie, we weren't ready to tell you two yet. It may seem weird right now, but this might actually be a good thing for you guys. And if it doesn't work out, well, it'll just be between Kira and I. All right?"

Chuckie laid his arms on the table and mumbled to himself, "Yeah it'll be real swell if you 2 break it up."

His father smiled a little and put a hand on Chuckie's shoulder. "It'll work out, one way or another, Chuckie. You'll see."

The Finster boy stood up and put his dishes in the sink. He was about to turn out the door, when he stopped suddenly.

"So you took my dating advice then?"

"Seems that way."

Chuckie smiled and opened the door. "Don't forget my dating guidelines then, Dad."

**At a storage unit downtown...**

Tommy, Phil and Lil were carrying large boxes of supplies from a storage unit filled with equipment. All of these things were going to be used for the Java Lava. There wasn't much left to be done for the construction part, but the gang decided to add some new features to the restaurant.

"This feels just like that TV show, "Storage Wars". Except, we're not auctioning anything, and we aren't trying to sell it after we're done with it, and there's nobody talking really fast." Phil proudly said.

"Then, other than the location, how is this anything like that TV show, Philip?"

"Well, I didn't say that it was EXACTLY like that show, Lillian!"

"Did too, PHILIP!"

"Did not, LILLIAN!"

"Guys, stop it! Look, there's Kimi coming over." Tommy said, breaking up the twins' feud.

Sure enough, there was Kimi racing over on her bike, wheezing like crazy as she put up the kickstand.

"Phew... Sorry guys, I... had a late night." She tried to tell them.

"No prob, Kimi. You're actually just in time. We're taking these boxes over to the back of the truck. Come on!" Phil said while walking over with Tommy.

Lil noticed the heavy bags under Kimi's eyes and how down-in-the-dumps she looked. "Kimi, are you alright? You seem pretty stressed out this morning."

"Huh? Oh, sorry, Lil. I kind of zoned out for a sec. What did you ask me?"

Lil arched an eyebrow and got a concerned look on her face. "I asked if you were alright, but it looks like I already know the answer. Did something happen last night?"

Kimi's eyes shot open as she heard Lil's question. "NO! I mean... no, nothing happened, Lil. I'm fine. We'd better stop talking and start putting these boxes in the truck."

Lil looked at her friend sceptically. She didn't buy her response at all. She decided to try to get the truth out of Kimi by any means necessary.

As they loaded up the last of the packages, Lil made sure that she rode in the same truck as Kimi, and that the boys didn't.

The two of them sat with all of the boxes, as they didn't want them to fly away and the Java Lava was only a few blocks away. Lil turned to face Kimi and asked for a second time in 10 minutes, "Are you sure you're okay, Kimi? You seem off today."

Kimi huffed; slightly annoyed that Lil was pursuing this. "Are you still asking me this? I already told you that I'm fine."

"You sure don't seem fine to me. I heard that you hung out with Chuckie yesterday. Did you two have a fight or something?"

"No, Lil, we're getting along... great. Nothing happened last night." Kimi tried to reassure her friend.

Lil sat back a bit, as she was sure that Kimi would explode if she kept pestering her about her well-being.

"Kimi, I think I'll text Chuckie and see what-"

"GOD! NOTHING HAPPENED LAST NIGHT THAT CONCERNS YOU LIL! SO JUST LEAVE IT ALONE!" she yelled. However, Kimi quickly realized what she had said and turned away.

They both remained silent for the remainder of the ride. A cold breeze ran through the air, oddly portraying the mood. As Lil's mother parked the truck beside the curb, Kimi unlocked the back door and jumped off.

"I'm sorry Kimi. I should've backed off sooner."

"Don't be. I should be apologizing. It's just, well... I'm not ready to talk about it yet, okay?" Kimi responded with tears slowly falling down her face.

Lil nodded and hugged her friend tightly. "It's all right. This is obviously too important for you to come out with yet. But, when you are ready..."

"You'll be the first to know, Lil." Kimi finished with a big smile on her face. She wiped her eyes with her jacket sleeve and went inside to start painting.

Lil looked at her phone for a second. She had a contact opened up on her phone, just begging to be texted. She exited Chuckie's contact and closed the cell phone.

'When you're good and ready, Kimi,' she thought to herself, 'I'll be waiting.'


	20. The Proposal

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Kimi's phone buzzed on her desk with a text from Chuckie. Neither of them had said a word to each other since that night, which was now over a week ago.

She quickly walked over to her phone; happy that someone had actually texted her today. However, her smile faltered when she saw who the message was from. 'Oh crap' she thought as she slowly read the text from her next-door neighbour.

"_Kimi, I need to talk to u. It's not bad, but can u meet me the park again?"_

The Japanese girl sat down on her bed for a little while and stared at the ceiling. She knew what he wanted to talk about, but she'd mostly been avoiding the subject ever since it happened. Kimi tried her hardest to think of an excuse not to go. 'Just say you're busy with, uh, homework! Or maybe... you're eating breakfast right now!' Just then, Kimi looked down at her watch, which read 7:09 pm.

'Well, you can't use that excuse.' she thought with an annoyed sigh. Kimi decided to go with the first excuse that she thought of in her head. Chuckie would probably buy that one.

"_Sure" _the message read.

Kimi was about to kick herself. She didn't even think about what she was typing in; it was just the first thing that came to her mind. "Stupid me... always doing the right thing..." she said to no one in particular.

Chuckie was sitting alone on a swing, incredibly nervous but also confident at the same time. He needed to talk to her. It was going to come up again anyway, and he figured it would be a good time today since their parents were going on another date tonight.

He suddenly heard light footsteps creeping up behind him, and then heard the sound of another swing going back and forth.

"I was starting to think that you weren't going to show." Chuckie said.

Silence.

"Anyway, I just wanted to talk about what we- I mean our parents- are going through right now."

More silence.

"I talked with my Dad about it the morning after, and he seems to really like her. I'm not sure if your mom feels the same way, but that's for them to deal with- not us. So... I don't think that we should have to go on feeling awkward around each other. What do you think?"

Once again, silence.

Chuckie sighed and looked at the ground. "I kind of figured that it wouldn't be that easy. I just tried to make it seem like this wasn't as big of a deal as we made it out to be. But who was I trying to kid? This is huge! This could affect us for the rest of our lives, for crying out loud! _Sigh_... I just don't know what to do anymore, Kimi."

She immediately stopped the swing by slamming her feet into the ground. She stared out into the sunset and crossed her arms. Chuckie noticed the forlorn expression on her face, as if she was discouraged about something.

"Believe me Kimi; I know what you're going through. You felt betrayed by your mom for her not telling you about the relationship. You felt... confused; shocked that all of this was happening so fast. I can't tell what you're thinking now though, Kimi Watanabe. I need you to say something! That's why I asked you to come out her this evening!"

Kimi retained the same position that she was in, so Chuckie sighed and turned to leave. "Who am I kidding? Thinking that I'd be able to magically make things better... what a joke."

"Park your ass, Finster." Kimi told the redhead, pointing to the empty swing. Chuckie did as he was told, though more slowly than she would've liked.

Kimi once again stared out into the sunset, which kind of confused Chuckie. He was getting slightly annoyed at what she was doing, so he was about to stand up.

"What am I supposed to say, Chucko? That everything's fine the way it is? My life is so messed up that it's not even funny. First off, my parents split up when I'm one years old. Next, I move to another freakin' continent, and leave everything about my old life behind. Then, I get kidnapped within the first year of living here. Now this happens... do you really have a clue about what I'm going through, Chuckie?"

"My mother is dead, Kimi." That immediately shut Kimi up. She'd completely forgotten about that little detail.

"Chuckie... I- I'm so sorry, I forgot..."

"Don't. Please," Chuckie interrupted, and then continued, "You shouldn't be apologizing for something you didn't do. I just wanted to look on the bright side of things, that's all."

Kimi grinned slightly and shook her head to face to the sunset again. "Gee, I wish that I had your enthusiasm, Finster."

"It takes years of practice, Kimi. Years of practice." The two of them shared a laugh for the first time in a while. They started to swing again; neither of them wanting to ruin this moment.

"My mom said that she's never met someone like Chas, you know. She said that he's smart, cute, funny and a really nice person. I actually felt happy for her when she told me that." Kimi said aloud with a smile. "You wouldn't believe how happy they're making each other, Chuckie."

"So does that mean that you're alright with this, then?"

Kimi looked at her friend and nodded. They fist-pumped each other and then walked back home. As they reached Chuckie's driveway (since his was the first on the way from the park), they their parents holding each other's hands tightly, and Chas clutching onto something tightly.

"What's up, Mom?" Kimi asked happily as she saw the two of them.

Kira looked surprisingly at her daughter, and remarked, "Wow, you seem awfully chipper now. Are you all right? Do you have a fever or something?"

Kimi took her mother's hand off of her face and rolled her eyes as Chuckie and Chas laughed. "I'm fine Mom, really! It's just... well, Chuckie's kind of opened my eyes to the situation and, well... I'm really happy for both of you." she explained.

"Aww, thank you Kimi. I'm glad that things have finally been sorted out. And Chuckie, how are you doing?" Kira asked.

"I'm great, Kira. Thanks for asking."

Kimi playfully punched him on the arm and laughed. "You're too nice, Chucko." she told him.

Chas straightened up a bit as he adjusted his glasses and nervously fidgeted with the item in his hands. "Well, since everyone's here, I figure that now's as good a time as any for me to do this."

Everyone curiously looked at Chas as he started explaining himself.

"I know that you kids were uneasy about our 'relationship' in the beginning, but it seems that you've patched things up very nicely. I'm really glad to see that. Kira, Kimi, I know that this past year hasn't been easy for you, with all of the changes and whatnot. For what it's worth though, Chuckie and I want to thank you for everything you've done for us so far. We truly appreciate it." The two girls had tears of happiness forming in their eyes, and Chuckie stood there not saying a word. He knew what was coming.

"So, Kira..." he started, facing her, "I have absolutely loved going out with you for the last month and a half-"

"Wait a minute, you two were going out for a month and a half? Why didn't you-" Kimi told Chuckie to be quiet, and ushered for Chas to continue.

"Anyway, you're an amazing woman, Kira. I think you're the greatest thing that's ever happened to me, and I mean that sincerely. I was going to do this alone, but now I see that it's a good thing that our kids are here. So without further ado..."

Chas revealed what had been hiding in his hand- a blue box containing a gorgeous silver ring.

"Kira Watanabe... will you do me the absolute pleasure of marrying me?"

Kimi was even more stunned than the surprise she recently had. She was absolutely over the moon with happiness, but not as much as her mother. She stared in awe not at the ring, but at Chas. She immediately fell in love with him all over again, and she wanted to spend the rest of her ever-loving life with this man and his son.

"As much as I'd love to... I'll have to ask Kimi first." This response shocked the Watanabe girl, while the Finsters were more than understanding.

"Mom, you don't need my permission..."

"Kimi, you've stuck with me through this adventure the whole time. You've given up so much for me, so for once, I want to ask if you want this."

Kimi's knees felt like jello. She furiously nodded her head and put her arm around Chuckie, who was also crying like crazy.

Kira then turned to Chuckie, who replied, "I couldn't think of anyone better for my dad than you, Kira."

She then turned back to Chas who was smiling his usual smile; all previous nervousness gone.

"Well, I guess it's unanimous, Chas Finster. Absolutely yes, I will marry you!"

The two of them kissed passionately, while Kimi hugged her new brother.

"Go Mr. Finster!"

"Shut up, Phil! We're gonna get caught!"

All 4 of them turned to the bushes where the sound came from.

"Ok guys, you might as well come out now. We know you're in there." Chuckie chuckled.

Popping out of the bushes were Tommy, Dil, Phil, Lil, Susie and Angelica, who were all giving intense glares at the male DeVille twin.

"My bad, guys. I couldn't resist." he explained sheepishly.

Tommy was the first to step out of the bushes. "Sorry for bothering you, we were just finishing repairs- err, I mean we were just, umm... leaving! Yeah, see you later guys!"

As the group ran back home as fast as they could (since it looked like Kimi was going to kill them all if they stayed one second later), Lil called back, "I guess this is what you meant, Kimi!"

Kimi Watanabe Finster shook her head and continued to celebrate with her new family, who were simply overjoyed at this.

Other than that, things seemed to be pretty much normal for the Finster clan.

_I ain't finished yet, folks! Well, almost, since there's only like one chapter left, but you get the idea..._

_Anyway, read and review :) Peace out, leafs nation _


	21. Wedding Day

Last chapter! I bet some of you are going "FINALLY! THIS JERK WHO'S BEEN DELAYING THE ENDING IS FINALLY FINISHED!". I've had a lot of fun writing this story, and I'll acknowledge all of the reviewers at the end. Hope you like it :) I may make an epilogue, but I'm not really sure yet. Wait and see ;)

"Yo Tommy! Bring the video camera over here- I want you to get a shot of me next to this old guy." Dil excitedly told his brother.

Tommy shook his head and laughed as he saw Dil with his arm strapped around his Grandpa Lou, who was clearly insulted that his grandson referred to him as being old.

"Back in my day, you would've gotten beat over the head with a phone book if you talked to your elders that way! Of course, not everyone had a telephone back then, so it really wasn't that thick... but nonetheless we would've been smacked!" Lou finished, breathing heavily as he finished his rant.

Suddenly, Stu came up from behind him and put an arm on his father's shoulder. "Come on, Dad, they're just playing with you. Besides, there's no reason to ruin a perfectly good wedding over a little joke." he advised, but then asked in curiosity, "Where are Chuckie and Chas, anyhow?"

"They went over to the Java Lava this morning. I guess it was a surprise before their big ceremony this afternoon." Didi informed them; hanging up some decorations as she stood on a ladder.

The wedding ceremony and the reception were to be held at Wombat Hall, as everybody agreed that that was the best place to have it. The building wasn't too small to fit all of these people, and it wasn't too big that somebody might get lost.

Practically everyone Chas knew was invited to the wedding, with good reason. This was without a doubt going to be the greatest day of his life- not just because he was getting married to this wonderful woman, but because he was going to have a beautiful, amazing daughter, and his son was finally going to have a family again.

Soon, the Devilles, Pickles (both sides), Carmichaels and Chuckie were all inside helping set up. Kimi was at home helping her mom, but nobody knew where Chas was.

"Um, Chuck? Where's your dad?" Lil asked the freckled, spectacled red-head.

Chuckie shrugged his shoulders. He'd lost sight of him after they went to the newly-rebuilt restauraaaaaant...

"Oh for crying out loud, Dad. How could you be at the Java Lava on your friggin' wedding? _Sigh..._ I'll try calling him."

He dialled in his father's number and waited for the response.

"Hello?" Chuckie was really not in the mood for this cheery response right now.

"DAD! Where the heck are you? I don't think I should have to remind you about your wedding, unless you completely forgot about it!" Chuckie scolded.

"Calm down, Chuckie. I was just finishing up my surprise present for Kira. I'll be there soon, I promise." his father happily said.

Chuckie put his hand on his forehead and said slightly calmer than before, "Alright. I'll see you here soon. Bye."

Lil walked over to him again and asked what had happened.

"He'll be here. He's just caught up in something at the moment. Let's go see what Tommy's up to."

**30 minutes later...**

"Are you ready for this, Chuck?" his best friend asked.

Chuckie nodded at his friend and replied, "Yeah, I'll be fine. I just hope that everything runs smoothly."

"It will. I told Phil and Dil to not mess around until _after _the ceremony, and Lil wouldn't do anything like that, so it's all good."

"What about Angelica?"

The two of them turned to see Tommy's blond cousin sitting cross-legged at one of the dinner tables talking on her (what else?) cell phone.

"Well... I think that she's grown up a lot since we were younger, and Susie's also here to straighten her out, so she won't be a problem."

Chuckie stood in silence for a moment, thinking about this morning. The look on his father's face when he saw the Java Lava was priceless. Chas was absolutely overwhelmed, and almost had an asthma attack. He was so grateful to everyone, and he didn't know how to repay them for what they had done.

"My dad was so happy to see the restaurant, Tom," Chuckie started, "he can finally put his life back together again. And now this... I honestly haven't seen him happier in my life, Tommy."

Chuckie then turned to face the Pickles boy. "Thanks, to all of you guys. If there's anything we can do for you guys..."

Tommy wasn't going to have any of it. "Nonsense, Finster. Just make sure your family has a great day, alright?"

Chuckie smiled and the two of them fist-pumped each other. The ceremony was going to begin in about 15 minutes, so Tommy went to take his seat with his family. Chuckie was about to go look for his future sister, when a pair of arms engulfed him from behind.

"Ooof! What the-"

He was turned around to see Kimi, who looked absolutely stunning. She had a big old grin on her face as she saw Chuckie for the first time today.

"'Sup Chucko? Are you all set?" the Japanese girl asked.

Chuckie adjusted his glasses and answered, "Well, I _was, _until I was rudely interrupted here."

Kimi playfully punched him and fixed up his tie. "You're a slob, you know that?"

When she was done fixing him up, the two of them stared at each other. "Is it going to be like this every day?" Chuckie asked.

"I hope not. You're kind of boring, Finster." she joked.

Chuckie shook his head with a smirk and said, "Come on, let's get this show on the road."

"Then by the power invested in me, by the almighty God, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Chas didn't need the preacher to tell him twice. He put his hands around Kira's face and kissed her like never before. Kimi was resting her head on Chuckie's shoulder with tears of joy in her eyes, and even Chuckie was getting a bit teary. He held onto his sister's shoulder in pure happiness.

The entire hall suddenly erupted into a swarm of cheers, and the happy couple walked off the podium; being attacked with hugs and wishes of good fortune. They then turned to their kids and brought them in for a giant group hug.

"Best. Day. Ever." Kimi managed to make out while her face was buried into her father's sleeve.

"Couldn't agree more." Chas replied. He then let go and adjusted his glasses before saying, "Now, let's go get some food before they eat it all!"

Everybody was up to their ears in food, especially Betty, who currently had 3 plates full of buffet on her plate. Her appetite was incredible to say the least.

All of the teens- Tommy, Chuckie, Kimi, Lil, Phil, Dil, Susie and Angelica- were sitting at their own table at the front. They had a giant game of cards going ("Cheat" to be exact), and Phil currently had the least number of cards. There seemed to be no stopping the crazed card gamer that was Phil Deville.

"Oh for crying out loud! Lil, there is absolutely no way that you knew I was cheating, unless... YOU! You were cheating in "cheat"! How could you be so cold?"

Lil just smiled as she watched her twin pick up the enormous pile of cards. "Because, Phil," she started, "you just can't accept the fact that I am far more intellectually superior than you'll _ever be._"

Phil glared crossly at her and snarled, "What is _that _supposed to mean, Lillian?"

Everyone just shook their heads and laughed. Even at a marriage, the two siblings couldn't stop fighting uncontrollably. Speaking of siblings, our new sister and brother pair were having the day of their lives right now.

Chuckie wasn't really paying much attention to the game they were playing, so he gave his cards to Dil and walked over to the punch bowl. He filled a plastic glass with the cherry substance, sat down at a nearby table and doodled on a napkin that he found.

"Mind if I join you?" his mother asked, looking down at her new son with a smile. Chuckie pulled out a chair as his mother sat down. The two sat in silence for a moment; watching as Stu and Drew tried to outdo the other on the dance floor.

"Weren't you sitting with the kids before?" Kira asked.

Chuckie shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Yeah, but there were too many people for a decent card game... and I wanted some of this punch before it all disappeared."

Kira smirked and nodded her head, even though she wasn't buying that reason. She presumed that Chuckie just had a lot on his mind right now, what with all of the massive changes that recently occurred in his life. Kira decided that she wouldn't ask him what he thought about her and Kimi moving in; Chuckie would talk when he was ready.

_BANG!_

The loud crash came from one of the tables perpendicular to the dance floor, as Stu had crash landed on top of it, sending pieces of food all across the floor.

"Ha! And you said that _I _couldn't do the chicken dance properly!" Drew teased his younger brother.

Suddenly, the DJ started the music on again. The beat was pretty catchy, and Chuckie found himself tapping the table along with it.

"Wanna show the old geezers how to really dance?" Kira asked.

Chuckie hesitated for a bit, thinking of how embarrassing it might be for him if his friends saw him dancing with his mother, but he eventually got the courage to go do it.

The red-head felt kind of awkward at first, since he really didn't know how to dance. He tried to copy Kira's moves (since he basically had none), and he almost tripped over himself. Chuckie and Kira just laughed and kept on going, regardless of who was staring.

The grandparents (Lou, Lulu, etc.) then joined in, which caused the kids to all turn around to see what was going on.

His peers were all laughing and cheering him on, and soon they all joined in on the dance floor without a care in the world.

When the song finally ended, the DJ started talking through the microphone. "All right, everybody. Here's one just for the Finster family!"

As "When You Love" by Sinnead O'Connor came on, Chuckie held his hand out to Kira who smiled and took it lovingly.

Chas came up from the table over to his daughter and asked, "May I have this dance, miss?"

Kimi giggled and replied, "Sure thing, sir."

As cheesy as it sounds, the Finster family had finally come full circle. Chas and Kira were happily married, and the 2 siblings couldn't be happier. After a couple of minutes, the pairs switched, leaving Chas dancing with Kira and Chuckie standing awkwardly next to Kimi.

"Come here, bro!" Kimi said to him as she gently put his arms around his neck, with him placing his arms at her sides.

"I think they're all staring." Kimi laughed as she motioned her head towards the rest of the gang, who were smiling and giggling at the 2 of them.

"Let them. It doesn't bother me in the slightest." Chuckie said while gulping and turning away.

Kimi shook her head with a smirk on her face, and then moved right up against Chuckie's body, with her arms on his back and her head rested on his shoulder. "I'm gonna love this family, you know that?"

Chuckie nodded as he hugged his sister back. "I know," he replied, "so am I."

_**Around 1:00 AM...**_

"Zzzz..." The teenage males of the group were all sound asleep at the Finster home (except for Chuckie, although he was very close to being asleep), as the wedding and the afterparty made them very exhausted. It didn't help that they were watching a chick flick that Kimi and Lil had picked out.

"Oh my god, is it almost over? I want to go to bed!" Chuckie complained.

"Shh! It's getting to the good part." Lil exclaimed.

Kimi nodded in agreement. "Yeah! Geoffrey is about to ask the girl of his dreams out on a date, but he doesn't know that she's already dating another guy."

Lil turned to her in confusion. "I thought you hadn't seen this movie?"

"I haven't, I just have a good hunch that that's going to happen. Oh, and I'm pretty sure the movie's 3 hours long, Chuck."

"Ok, well, how long have we been watching it for?"

Lil checked her watch and replied, "20 minutes."

Chuckie smacked himself in the face with a pillow and laid back down on the couch. He definitely wasn't going to put up with this for another 2 hours and 40 minutes.

"So, when do your parents leave for their honeymoon?" Lil asked.

Kimi answered first. "I'm pretty sure they're gone in the morning. So I guess that means that we get the house to ourselves for a while."

"Ahh, a whole week of relaxing for me. No chores, no homework- just sitting back and doing whatever I want to do."

"I think you mean whatever Lil and I tell you to do." Kimi piped in.

Chuckie sat up in confusion. "Come again?" he asked.

Kimi nudged Lil, who was immediately in on her idea. "Oh, didn't you know? You have to be Kimi's slave until your parents come back from their trip back to France. It's in the "New Sibling Code of Laws" you know."

"I'm not being your slave for a week, no matter what the circumstances!" Chuckie retorted, clearly not getting the joke.

The girls just laughed and threw pillows at Chuckie, who simply accepted them and fell sat in a comfortable position on the couch. "Night ladies." he said sleepily before going off into La-La Land.

As Chuckie dozed off, Kimi got up and put the blanket around his body. She smiled at him before sitting back down.

"Sweet dreams, bro."

Thank you to all of my reviewers who've stuck with me through this terribly long wait. I've had a blast doing this story, and I hope you all enjoyed reading it just as much as I had writing it! I may do more stories in the near future, so look out for those!

Peace out my homies,

Leafs Nation


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